Robert Patrick will join ''The X-Files''

‘X’ FILE The truth is finally out there. After months of agonizing speculation about how Fox will compensate for David Duchovny‘s dwindling role on ”The X-Files,” the network announced that ”Terminator 2”’s Robert Patrick has been cast as a new sidekick for Gillian Anderson. Creator and exec producer Chris Carter says that Patrick’s character, John Doggett, will be the virtual opposite of Duchovny’s conspiracy-happy Fox Mulder, who is scheduled to appear in just over half of the episodes this year. ”We decided we didn’t want to add something to the show we already had,” he told Daily Variety. ”This guy is the consummate insider. He’s a member of the FBI fraternity, a textbook guy.” As the season unfolds, Doggett will pair with Scully to hunt down an abducted Agent Mulder.

WANTED Police in North Carolina are reportedly hunting for ”Survivor” castaway Kelly Wiglesworth, who is wanted for use of a stolen credit card. The river guide, 23, who is currently leading rafting trips on California’s Kern River — while the rest of us watch to see if she’s voted off the island — allegedly racked up some $500 on the hot card. Now, I wonder if she’d do that if she had a million bucks?

REALITY TV No surprise here. The first ”Big Brother” housemate to get voted out on Thursday night was surly youth counselor William Collins (a.k.a. former Black Panther Hiram Ashantee), who spent much of his time bickering with his roomies and basically TRYING to get kicked off the show. CBS says the 27 year old lost by a whopping three to one margin, but the network would not reveal how many viewers voted for his ouster.

AILING Courtney Love has apparently lost her role in the sci-fi thriller ”John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars,” because she busted an ankle earlier this week while pumping up for the part, Variety reports. The flick’s tight $30 mil budget and strict start date of Aug. 8 will not allow producers to wait for her recovery, according to a production insider. (Love’s publicist confirmed the injury, but was unable to confirm the departure.) The rocker turned screen siren would have played a police lieutenant opposite Ice Cube and ”Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”’ Jason Statham. Om, maybe Love should get back into yoga.

LEGALESE A woman who claims that she once managed Christina Aguilera is suing the pop diva-ette and her current handlers for breach of contract. The suit seeks $2 mil from Aguilera’s mom, Shelly Kearns, and $5 mil from her current managers. The distraught woman, Ruth Inniss, alleges that she met the future ”Genie in a Bottle” while she was still a Mouseketeer and that she had an agreement with Kearns that if Aguilera obtained a recording contract Inniss would manage her career. Guess something rubbed SOMEONE the wrong way…

FIREWORKS As if the lines stretched around the nation’s multiplexes during the July 4 battle between ”The Patriot” and ”The Perfect Storm” weren’t bad enough, get ready to camp out for next year’s showdown. Steven Spielberg‘s production of Stanley Kubrick’s brainchild, the sci-fi flick ”A.I.” (starring Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment), is set to open on June 29, 2001. It’ll be up against John Woo‘s ”Windtalkers” (starring Nicolas Cage) and the Adam Sandler comedy ”The Johnson Five.” That could be worse than choosing between Goobers and popcorn at the concession stand — the kind of competition that makes industry execs salivate.

BOX OFFICE Forget about next year’s box office grosses for a sec and take note: After a mere 14 days in theaters ”Scary Movie” has passed the $100 mil mark — making it one of the 10 fastest flicks ever to reach this milestone, according to the Hollywood Reporter. AND, this weekend the Keenen Ivory Wayans horror spoof is set to become the highest grossing film in history helmed by a black director. It will surpass Sidney Poitier’s ”Stir Crazy,” which took $101.1 mil way back in 1980. Oh yeah, that little Marvel comics adaptation ”X-Men” is also likely to break $100 mil in the next three days.

CRIME British tabs think Brad Pitt‘s getting married this weekend, but instead he’s probably just getting uneasy. Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of the 21 year old woman who was placed on probabation in 1999 after sneaking into Pitt’s home, putting on his clothes, and dozing off on his bed for about 10 hours. The aspiring actress from Billings, Mont., apparently failed to show up at her scheduled court hearings. Maybe she was answering a casting call for the next Tom Ripley flick.

SURVIVAL In spite of a Web goof that leaked the name of this week’s losing ”Survivor” contestant Greg, the CBS show racked up a record number of viewers. Some 26.15 million people — one and a half million more than last Wednesday — tuned in to watch the Man with the Coconut Phone get the boot. (Check out EW.com’s story on CBS’ latest Internet debacle.)

WEB NEWS The usually reclusive Eric Clapton will discourse with fans in his first ever Internet chat, slated for July 24, 7:00 p.m. ET, on America Online (Keyword: Live). Clapton, who will spend about 30 minutes conversing online, reportedly agreed to the event because of the success of his new effort with B.B. King, ”Riding With the Bullet.”