LOS ANGELES — Matthew McConaughey is taking Owen Wilson's role in the comedy film "Tropic Thunder."

Wilson dropped out of the DreamWorks movie after an apparent suicide attempt last month.

"Tropic Thunder," which is filming on Kaua'i, stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Nick Nolte, Bill Hader and Steve Coogan. Stiller is also directing.

McConaughey, 37, has an uncredited cameo in the movie, his publicist, Nicole Perez, said yesterday.

"Tropic Thunder" is about a group of actors who gather on a remote island to shoot a big-budget war movie and are forced to become the soldiers they are playing.

O.J. RELEASED ON $125,000 BAIL

LAS VEGAS — O.J. Simpson was released from jail yesterday after posting $125,000 bail.

A Nevada judge yesterday set bail for the former football star on charges stemming from Simpson's confrontation last week with collectors of sports memorabilia.

The defense and prosecution agreed to the bail amount, which was confirmed at a brief hearing before Justice Court Judge Joseph Bonaventure.

Simpson had been held without bail for about three days in a 7-foot-by-14-foot cell at the Clark County Detention Center. He is to return to his Florida home, his lawyer said.

Simpson, 60, and three other men face 10 felony counts including kidnapping and robbery with a deadly weapon in an incident last Thursday in a Las Vegas hotel room. If convicted, the sports star could face life in prison.

RATHER SUES CBS OVER BUSH STORY

NEW YORK — Dan Rather filed a $70 million lawsuit against CBS and his former bosses yesterday, claiming they made him a "scapegoat" for a discredited story about President Bush's military service during the Vietnam War.

The 75-year-old Rather, whose final months were clouded by controversy over the story, said the actions of the defendants damaged his reputation and cost him significant financial loss.

The lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, claims the network intentionally botched the aftermath of the story about Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard and had Rather take the fall to "pacify" the White House. He was removed from his job at "CBS Evening News" in March 2005.

The suit seeks $20 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages.

"These complaints are old news, and this lawsuit is without merit," said CBS spokesman Dana McClintock.