Daily News from New York, New York • 40

I- riow entertainment Top 10 Movies USH HOUR" REMAINED THE TOP movie at the North American box office ifor the second consecutive weekend. ff l) while Robert De Niro set a career best with his new film "Ronin," according to studio estimates issued yesterday. "Rush Hour," a stunt-driven cop comedy starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, earned about $21.1 million for the Friday-to- Sunday period. Its 10-day total now stands at $63.9 million. "Ronin," a European-set car chase thriller starring De Niro, Stellan Skarsgard and Jean Reno, opened in second with $13 million, said a spokesman for United Artists.

De Niro's previous best opening for a movie in which he headed the cast, was $10.2 million for the 1991 remake of "Cape Fear." "There's Something About Mary" earned $4.5 million, bringing it to a stunning $152.5 million. Final totals come out today. Here's the top 10: 1. "Rush Hour" ($21.1 million) 2. "Ronin" ($13 million) 3.

"Urban Legend" ($11 million) 4. "There's Something About Mary" ($4.5 million) 4. (tie) "One True Thing" ($4.5 million) 6. "Simon Birch" ($2.7 million) 7. "Saving Private Ryan" ($2.6 million) 8.

"Rounders" ($2.5 million) 9. "Blade" ($2 million) 10. "Ever After" ($1.2 million) II -V Ml I GHOULIE GROOVES: Rob Zombie's heavy metal sound can be heard at Roseland on Oct. 28. Monster rocker's new LP3 'Hellbilly Deluxe, creeps onto the charts, thanks to fans' morbid fascination i REETING CREEPS, SCRIBBLES I Rob Zombie on the cover of his lat est album, "Hellbilly Deluxe." That's been true since the star first lum- bered onto the scene in 1985.

He put out four indie albums with his group White Zombie before putting out two platinum LPs on Geffen. He says the decision to-cut a solo LP, and then to officially break up the band, "wasn't part of some master plan. I just had time off, started working with different people and it kept going." Clearly, there's more A HIT COUPLE: McElhone, De Niro in "Ronin" "The time has come to venture into the loathsome depths of my morbid melodies" which he invariably matches to such high poetry as "I am the rat feast upon the cat tender is the fur dying as you purr." The guy has to be kidding, right? Zombie reacts to the no JIM FARBER BULLETS BOMBS tion with sheer horror. "I never think. This is so tongue in which is what most writers think," he says.

"This is just my idea of cool." Not just his, apparently. Earlier this month enough morose juveniles lapped up to it than that But the new musical blood gave him the chance to work with the tabloids' favorite drummer, -Tommy Lee. Zombie claims to be the only American who hasn't seen his sex tape. "It's 1 158? I si. UJ HOLLYWOOD By MARILYN BECK and STACY JENEL SMITH 'T3' looks so costly Arnold may go 'Ape' Can you picture Arnold Schwarzenegger making like Charlton Heston in a fresh version of "Planet of the Well, picture it.

We get word that James Cameron's Light-storm Entertainment is shifting its Arnold energies from "Terminator 3" to a new "Planet of the Apes." In other words, he vohn't be back. The company does not control rights to "Terminator" (they wound up being auctioned off in the wake of Carolco Pictures' folding). Estimates have it that it could cost as much as $100 million to regain rights and pay Schwarzenegger his salary. And that $100 million, tacked onto the cost of actually making "Terminator 3," is considered just too out of sight. Even for James Cameron.

At least, that's how things stand. Staging a WWII 'Mutiny' for TV Rim lions Kevin Hooks and Morgan Freeman are joining forces on an NBC movie as director and producer, respectively. "Port Chicago Mutiny' will detail the true story of a World War II revolt by black servicemen who refused to continue needlessly hazardous, menial dockside duty after a fatal accident. The shutdown led to a highly publicized mutiny trial attended by a young NAACP lawyer named Thurgood Marshall who, of course, became the first African-American Supreme Court justice. With reports by Stephanie DuBois.) not funny when you know the guy." But Zombie did get a few titters out of Barbra Streisand's decision to blast his cut "Thunder Kiss '65" to repel reporters from her wedding.

"I was flattered," he says. But not surprised. "I found it weirder that James Brolin married her." Anyway, he doubts Babs knew his work very well. "She probably just ordered seme peon to go buy a record that would really annoy people." Zombie himself has been annoyed at all the controversy surrounding his departure from Korn's Family Values tour. (His own tour comes to Roseland, Oct 28.) Zombie claims the split wasn't personal.

He just decided he didn't want to cut any of his theatrics to suit a multi-act stage. Someone in Korn's camp put out a press release painting Zombie as a prima donna. "No one would take responsibility for the press release," says the groovy ghoulie. "Which made the thing suspicious. But there are no hard feelings." Even ghouls can Zombie's first solo album to make it debut at No.

5 on the Billboard Top 200 LP list After four weeks, it hangs tough at No. 17 with another 60,000 copies moved in the last seven days. Its success boosts a growing revival in heavy gu itar music, fleshed out by Korn's No. 1 debut with "Follow the Leader" and Marilyn Manson's bow in the top spot on this week's Billboard with "Mechanical Animals." To Zombie, the return of metal-style groups from the dead has less to do with the audience than the industry. "It's a matter of which executives are in power," he says.

"A bunch of guys who like heavy metal have the jobs, then they get fired and the music goes away. When new guys come in who like heavy metal, it's back." Anyway, Zombie doesn't even think of his own music as metal. "When I think of metal, I think of Judas Priest and I don't think I have much in common with that. My music has a little of everything." Specifically, a little industrial, metal -and Zombie's patented monster rock..