ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

FILM

Che Guevara, the Movie: South Fork Pictures, the independent arm of Wildwood Enterprises, and Italian journalist-producer Gianni Mina have teamed up to make a feature film about the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara. The project is based on Guevara’s “Motorcycle Diaries,” which he wrote as a young medical student traveling through South America in 1952. Walter Salles (“Central Station”) will direct, with playwright Jose Rivera writing the screenplay. Production is expected to begin in 2001.

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‘Tomb Raider’ to Shoot at Angkor Wat: Scenes for the action film “Tomb Raider,” featuring Oscar winner Angelina Jolie, will be shot at Cambodia’s famous Angkor Wat temples, a Cambodian official said Thursday. “The government has agreed to allow British Paramount Pictures to shoot ‘Tomb Raider’ in the Angkor complex,” said Som Sokun, director of cinema for the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. Based on the popular video game of the same name, “Tomb Raider” will begin filming the last week of November, he said. Khieu Kanharith, secretary of state in the Information Ministry, said Jolie will be accompanied by three bodyguards, who have made a written request for permission to bring guns with them. “This is the first time we’ve had a request like this,” Kanharith said. Foreigners are not allowed to bring weapons into Cambodia, but Kanharith expects an exception will be granted for Jolie. The last major production filmed in Cambodia was 1965’s “Lord Jim.”

TELEVISION

“Wing” Attack: NBC’s “The West Wing” featured what appeared to be a thinly veiled blast at Laura Schlessinger in Wednesday’s episode, as the fictional president lectured a conservative female radio host for her negative comments regarding homosexuality. Series creator Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the episode, couldn’t be reached for comment. Schlessinger has also been spoofed on “Frasier” and the short-lived sitcom “Talk to Me.”

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Viewers’ Choice: Critical plaudits notwithstanding, “The West Wing” isn’t “ER” yet, ratings-wise. The show posted its second-highest rating ever Wednesday, with an estimated 16.8 million viewers, but that was more than 8 million short of its heavily promoted season premiere. It didn’t help that NBC was in fourth place at 8 p.m. with “Titans” (6.7 million viewers), whose audience continues to slide. Ratings also dropped for the second outings of three other new series: CBS’ “Bette” (12.9 million viewers, down almost 20% from its premiere), “Welcome to New York” (10.7 million) and the ABC drama “Gideon’s Crossing” (10.6 million), roughed up by the season premiere of “Law & Order” (17.8 million).

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Spike Lee TV: Filmmaker Spike Lee has signed a deal with Studios USA to develop a television series. Lee, who skewers television in his current film “Bamboozled,” had a previous deal to develop a new series for ABC, but that project never materialized.

THE ARTS

Lullabies Only?: Celebrated Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel has caused upset in Covent Garden, Salzburg and Munich opera houses by canceling all performances for the next four months to be with his wife for the birth of their third child, due in January. He was scheduled to appear in productions of Verdi’s “Falstaff” and Puccini’s “Tosca.” “I missed out on seeing my two boys born,” he said in a recent interview with CNN. “This time, I’ll be home.” . . . Meanwhile, in other music news, French conductor Emmanuel Villaume, 36, has been named music director for opera and orchestra for the Spoleto Festival USA.

POP/ROCK

Reid Signs ‘Babyface’: In one of his first major signings since taking over the helm of Arista Records in July, Antonio “L.A.” Reid has signed Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds to a long-term solo recording contract, the label said Thursday. Edmonds previously was signed to Sony’s Epic Records, which said in a separate statement that it will release a greatest-hits package featuring two new songs on Nov. 14. As a singer-songwriter-producer, Edmonds has won 10 Grammys, including a record three consecutive prizes as producer of the year.

QUICK TAKES

Broadway star Gwen Verdon, who died Wednesday in Woodstock, Vt., succumbed to a heart attack, Regional Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Parrott said Thursday. . . . The enigmatic English band Radiohead, whose moody album “Kid A” remains a chart-topper, will appear on KCRW’s (89.9 FM and KCRW.com) “Morning Becomes Eclectic” at 11 a.m. today. The band performs a sold-out concert at the Greek Theatre tonight. . . . Linda Hamilton (“The Terminator”) and Robin Thomas (“The Contender”) will appear in a stage version of “Laura,” based on the Vera Caspary novel and best known as a 1944 movie starring Gene Tierney. The production will run Nov. 8-Dec. 17 at the Tiffany Theater. . . . The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will screen a restored print of “In Cold Blood” on Nov. 10 in the academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Leonard Maltin will moderate a discussion following the screening with stars Scott Wilson and John Forsythe, cinematographer Conrad Hall, composer Quincy Jones and assistant director Tom Shaw.