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

MOVIES

Christmas Package Delayed: Biting the bullet, Columbia Pictures has decided to move the release date of its family drama “Hanging Up”--starring Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton and Lisa Kudrow--from Christmas Day to Feb. 11, citing the crush of competition. Columbia has high hopes for the film, a drama filled with comedic moments, about three sisters who come together during their father’s illness. “We’re moving ‘Hanging Up’ because of the crowded marketplace at Christmas,” a studio spokesman explained. “More and more movies have moved into the Dec. 25 area. In addition, we also realized there are going to be all kinds of millennium events impacting people around that time of year so we felt Feb. 11 would be a better time to release the movie.” How crowded is Christmas? Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc., said seven films are currently slated to debut on the holiday, including “Any Given Sunday,” “Galaxy Quest,” “Magnolia,” “Man on the Moon,” “Next Friday,” “Reindeer Games” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” “You’ve got 11 films opening between the 21st and 25th,” Dergarabedian added. “It’s a good period to release a film because people are on vacation, but it’s highly competitive.” In addition, Columbia has three other movies coming out in December: Winona Ryder in “Girl Interrupted,” director Neil Jordan’s “End of the Affair” and the digitally animated “Stuart Little.”

PEOPLE WATCH

Downey to Stay Incarcerated: Actor Robert Downey Jr. lost his bid Tuesday to be released from a Central California prison pending appeal of a 1996 drug conviction or be resentenced to an L.A. County-run rehabilitation facility. Downey’s attorney, Robert Shapiro, told Municipal Court Judge Lawrence J. Mira that if it was his intention to “shock” Downey by sending him to a maximum-security prison, it has worked. Shapiro also told Mira that his client is in danger at Corcoran State Prison, saying that prison guards “cannot . . . at any time, guarantee anyone’s safety” from other prisoners. The prosecutor in the case, however, called the request to spring Downey the latest in a long line of pleas by the actor for “one more chance, one more chance, one more chance.” On Aug. 5, Mira sentenced Downey to three years in prison after the actor violated his probation for a third time by failing to submit to a court-ordered drug test.

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Wedding Bells?: Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche have proclaimed that they will exchange vows in Vermont if the state Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage. “There is no one who is keeping their fingers crossed more than us. We’d love to celebrate [such a legalization] with you,” Heche said during a “Coming Out Week” rally at the University of Vermont on Sunday. The Vermont Supreme Court is currently considering a case filed by three same-sex couples who want to marry.

POP/ROCK

Life Achievement: Mexican singer, songwriter and producer Juan Gabriel will receive a Life Achievement Award at the first Ritmo Latino awards, to be handed out Oct. 20 at Universal Ampitheatre and aired Nov. 7 on Telemundo. Gabriel, who divides his time among Malibu, Miami and Mexico, has held more spots on the Latin charts than any other artist, and has sold more than 35 million albums worldwide. The Ritmo Latino awards are the first Latin music awards show to involve public voting; scheduled performers include merengue singer Olga Tanon, norteno powerhouse Alicia Villareal with Grupo Limite, boy band MDO and salsa singer Victor Manuel.

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Latinas Top Billboard: Jennifer Lopez topped the nominations for the 1999 Billboard Music Video Awards, to be presented Nov. 12 at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. Lopez received seven nods for her debut album, “On the 6,” becoming the first female artist of Latino heritage to top the Billboard nominations. Christina Aguilera was second in the count with four nominations for “Genie in a Bottle.”

QUICK TAKES

Fox has upped the ante in TV’s newest craze by ordering six episodes of “Greed,” a new game show with a potential $2 million payoff, to air during the November ratings sweeps. The show’s format is said to be modeled after “Family Feud,” except that contestants will turn on their own teammates. . . . Fill-in “CBS Morning News” anchor Julie Chen has been named news anchor and former ABC News reporter Jon Frankel has been named the national news correspondent for “The Early Show,” CBS’ forthcoming Bryant Gumbel-hosted weekday morning broadcast, which debuts Nov. 1. . . . Former Genesis bandmates Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford, Steve Hackett and Tony Banks have reunited for “The Carpet Crawlers 1999,” a new version of a 1974 Genesis song included on “Turn It On Again . . . The Hits,” a Genesis greatest-hits collection due in stores Oct. 26. Gabriel and Collins share lead vocals on the new song. . . . Cable’s TNT airs a two-hour collection of highlights from the weekend’s poverty-fighting “NetAid” concerts--held in New York, London and Geneva--tonight at 8. Performers include David Bowie, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Eurythmics, Jewel, Wyclef Jean with Bono and Sting. . . . Tim Allen is recovering from an emergency appendectomy on Friday that forced him out of a weekend car race at Monterey’s Laguna Seca Raceway.