Ah, There's the Snub

SNUBBED Nobody likes a winner. After nabbing her first Daytime Emmy just last year (after 18 straight losses), this year Susan Lucci didn't even earn a nomination. ''Our industry is filled with brilliant performers, and I congratulate all the wonderful and talented nominees,'' she said to Variety, begging the question, ''That's all well and good, but can you taste your own rage?'' Meanwhile, ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,'' which lost its bid to compete in the prime-time Emmys, got five nominations, including best host -- but if Regis Philbin doesn't win that, he (along with cohost Kathie Lee Gifford) will still have the chance to win best host in the talk-show category.

CASTING John Cusack will star in ''Serendipity'' as a long-lost love who reunites with his ex-girlfriend ten years after they first met.... Steven Spielberg is moving fast with his ''A.I.'' project: Jude Law is already negotiating to take the lead, according to the Hollywood Reporter. While Law is buddying up with Spielberg, he's not making friends at Miramax. Variety reports that Law just backed out of that studio's period drama ''Feathers'' after his salary demand of $4 million and a chunk of the grosses wasn't accepted.... Frances McDormand will reunite with the Coen brothers (although, admittedly, it won't be that dramatic of a reunion since she's married to Joel Coen), who directed her to an Oscar in ''Fargo.'' She'll star in their untitled noir film about a cheating wife who gets into trouble when her extracurricular boyfriend gets murdered.... Indie staple James LeGros (''Living in Oblivion'') is going mainstream, joining the cast of ''Ally McBeal'' next month as a new lawyer who will replace Gil Bellows.... Topher Grace (''That '70s Show'') will be dabbling in something a wee bit stronger than pot in ''Traffic'': He'll play a drug addict who gets Michael Douglas' daughter hooked.... Nigel Hawthorne (''The Madness of King George'') will join Johnny Depp in the Jack the Ripper movie ''From Hell,'' in which Hawthorne will play the Queen of England's doctor.

IN STORES SOON Pearl Jam's new album, ''Binaural,'' is set for a May 23 release date, which is the same day the band heads out on a European tour, according to MTV News. No American dates have been announced.

PAYING UP Now that Mick Jagger has copped to being the father of 29-year-old model Luciana Morad's son (an admission eased along by the wonders of DNA testing), a New York City family court has ordered him to pay $10,000 in monthly child support, according to Reuters. Morad originally asked for between $30,000-$35,000. Guess she'll have to wean li'l Lucas off the Gerber's caviar.

BACKING OUT Halle Berry has dropped out of the Eddie Murphy sci-fi comedy ''Pluto Nash,'' just a few weeks before shooting starts. The Hollywood Reporter says sources maintained her bailing had nothing to do with her hit-and-run lawsuit; they say the film's fluctuating start date was messing with her wedding plans to singer Eric Benet Dawson.

REEL DEALS MGM has signed Bonnie Hunt (''Jerry Maguire'') -- whose directorial debut, ''Return to Me,'' opens next month -- to a two-year first-look deal, according to Variety.... Budding mogul Kelsey Grammer is directing and executive producing the sitcom pilot ''Neurotic Tendencies'' for NBC. The comedy is about two young New Yorkers who move to L.A., and culture shock is no doubt involved. Speaking of culture shock, Grammer is coming to Broadway this summer for a production of ''Macbeth.''

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