Daily News from New York, New York • 40

Now entertainment TOP 10 MOVIES for movie USH the at the HOUR" second North REMAINED consecutive American THE box weekend, TOP office 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) A GHOULIE GROOVES: Rob Zombie's heavy metal sound can be heard at Roseland on Oct. 28. Zombie Music Lives! Monster rocker's new LP, 'Hellbilly creeps onto the charts, thanks to fans' morbid fascination est Rob REETING album, Zombie on "Hellbilly the cover of SCRIBBLES his 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 feast upon the tender is the dying as you purr." The guy has to be kidding, right? Zombie reacts to the notion with sheer horror. "I never think, 'This is so tongue in which is JIM what most writers think," he says.

"This is just my idea of FARBER cool." BULLETS Not just his, apparently. Earlier this month enough morose juveniles lapped up 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 guitar 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 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 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. That's been true since the star first lumbered 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 Clearly, there's more to it than that. But the new musical blood gave him the chance to work with the tabloids' favorite drummer, BOMBS- Tommy Lee. Zombie claims to be the only American who hasn't seen his sex tape. "It's not funny when you know the 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 some 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 Even ghouls can forgive. A HIT COUPLE: McElhone, De Niro in "Ronin" 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 Apes'? Well, picture it. We get word that James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment is shifting its Arnold energies from "Terminator 3" to a new "Planet of the 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 Film 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 Il 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.).