Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

POP/ROCK

Superstar Pairing?: Two music industry heavyweights who each have their own film production companies--country music superstar Garth Brooks and omnipresent soul/R&B; writer-producer-performer Babyface--are in “serious discussions” to co-produce a film and record an accompanying soundtrack. Babyface (whose company co-produced “Soul Food”) says the pairing is “looking like it’s going to come together.” Sources in both camps say Brooks approached Babyface with the idea. “Garth knows where he wants to go with the music,” a source close to Brooks said, “and he believes that Babyface will give it that interesting lift that will bring something new to the music.” Meanwhile, Brooks plans to release a boxed set this spring and a live album in the fall.

‘Yield’-ing the Airwaves: Pearl Jam will perform songs from its upcoming “Yield” album during a live nationwide radio broadcast Saturday. KROQ-FM (106.7) will air the program in Los Angeles from 8 to 11 p.m. Band members will be joined by guest musicians and will play some of their favorite recordings; the show will be similar to a 1995 Pearl Jam broadcast, “Self Pollution Radio.” “It’s a chance to break out of what mainstream radio is, which is the same songs over and over,” Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder said. “We’ll get to play things that deserve to be played over and over, but [aren’t] because they’re not considered commercially viable or backed by a larger corporate entity.”

More Trouble: Singer James Brown, 64, was arrested Tuesday on marijuana and weapons charges stemming from his recent hospitalization. Police said they found marijuana and evidence that rifles had been fired in Brown’s Beech Island, S.C., home when the singer was transported to a hospital on Jan. 15. Brown, who was treated for an addiction to painkillers, faces up to two years in prison if convicted on his latest charge. Brown says he smokes marijuana for medicinal purposes and keeps weapons for protection.

TELEVISION

Mad About Directing: “Mad About You’s” Helen Hunt will make her directorial debut on the NBC series’ Feb. 24 episode. And she’ll be leading a master: Oscar-winning director Sydney Pollack (“Out of Africa”), who guest-stars.

MUSIC

Symphony Shuffle: Conductor Michael Palmer will replace Bernard Klee at the Pacific Symphony concerts Feb. 4 and 5 at 8 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. Klee withdrew because of illness. The program of Ravel, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninoff remains the same. Palmer has been music director of the American Sinfonietta and also has been a music director of the New Haven (Conn.) Symphony. (714) 755-5799.