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

MOVIES

Making a Comeback: At least three projects are in the works celebrating the legacy of the late Mary Pickford, who began her film career 90 years ago. ClassicVision Entertainment, a production company dedicated to the preservation of classic movies starring Pickford and her contemporaries, is at work on “Star Power,” a Roddy McDowall-hosted TV documentary about the formation of United Artists in 1919 by Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith. Other upcoming ClassicVision projects include a TV movie about Pickford’s life and the restoration of her 1927 silent feature “My Best Girl”--along with a new score by Oscar nominee David Michael Frank (“The Mask”)--to be released on video and in selected theaters. Pickford’s widower, Buddy Rogers, 92, is a consultant on the projects.

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Returning Home: Mark Canton, who was forced out of his job as chairman of Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group last September, is heading for Warner Bros., where he served as president of production from 1985-90. Although Canton would not discuss details, sources say his three-year exclusive production deal guarantees an annual advance in the high six-figure range. Canton, who turned out films such as “Lethal Weapon” and “Batman” during his Warner years and “Air Force One” and “Men in Black” while at Sony, said the deal made for a happy ending to an “eye-opening year full of painful introspection.” He added: “The heads of the studio decided that I’ve made movies that travel well around the globe. . . . Though I haven’t produced a film, I have relationships, hands-on managerial skills and understand the process [from] overseeing 400 to 500 movies over the years. This is really a homecoming. . . . I’ve always worn a Warner Bros. T-shirt underneath my business suit.”

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Imax Cameras Climb Everest: The first large-format images from the top of Mt. Everest will be the centerpiece of “Everest,” a new Imax movie set to open in March at an unprecedented 50 Imax screens nationwide. Set to original music by George Harrison, the movie chronicles a real-life expedition to the mountain’s summit that took place just days after the 1996 tragedy in which eight climbers died. ABC, meanwhile, is working on its own movie about the deadly 1996 ascent.

TELEVISION

Late-Night Blackout: “The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show,” one of two new late-night entries, went off the air in Los Angeles for nearly 12 minutes Wednesday. The disruption was caused by the failure of a circuit breaker that controls the power supply to the Mount Wilson receiver for KTTV-TV Channel 11, which broadcasts the syndicated show locally. A station spokeswoman called the situation “an extreme aberration” and said KTTV is considering repeating the episode.

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KTLA Shake-Up: KTLA-TV Channel 5 News Director David Goldberg has left the station, effective immediately. A terse statement issued by KTLA General Manager John Reardon said only that Goldberg’s contract would not “be continued,” then noted that Goldberg “has implemented many good changes in our news department, including the design and construction of a dramatic new news set and creating an investigative news unit.” Goldberg, who could not be reached for comment, was the station’s third news director in as many years. Steve Inouye, the station’s director of administration and development, and Fernando Lopez, news operations manager, will oversee the newsroom until a replacement is named.

POP/ROCK

U2 in Belfast: Irish rock band U2 is taking its stadium tour to Northern Ireland with plans to play an outdoor show Aug. 26 at Belfast’s Botanic Gardens. It’ll be the first concert of that size staged in the country’s troubled capital. U2 previously played Belfast in 1987, at a small, indoor venue.

STAGE

‘Phantom’ Casting: Ron Bohmer, who recently played Joe Gillis in the North American tour of “Sunset Boulevard,” has been cast as the lead in the Oct. 11-Jan. 4 engagement of “The Phantom of the Opera” at the Pantages Theatre. Bohmer was seen in Los Angeles in 1993 when he played opposite Sarah Brightman in “Aspects of Love” at the Wilshire Theatre. Meanwhile, Sandra Joseph will star as Christine, a role she’s played for more than two years in various U.S. cities, and Lawrence Anderson, a member of “Sunset’s” Broadway company, will play Raoul.

QUICK TAKES

“Frasier” star Kelsey Grammer wed film student-turned-Playboy model Camille Donatacci at the Saddlebrook Ranch in Malibu last Sunday. It’s Grammer’s third marriage. . . . NBC is bringing in dozens of 6- to 8-year-olds from various New York summer camps to make up the audience for tonight’s “Late Night With Conan O’Brien.” “If the NBC research department is correct,” O’Brien joked, “this is our core audience.” . . . The Australian pop duo Savage Garden (“I Want You”) will perform a free concert set today at 4 p.m. at the Cinema Plaza at Universal CityWalk.