Movies

James Gunn's new DCU has yet to see the light of day -- and shedding the old guard is proving brutal ... both at the box office and on Twitter, where it's all Zack Snyder all day.

First, there's 'Shazam 2' -- which just hit theaters this weekend, and is already off to a tough start with a projected $30M domestic opening ... one of the worst for any DC movie. Remember, Zachary Levi's future in Gunn's world going forward hangs in the balance ... and you gotta imagine that his film here (part of the former DCEU) bombing doesn't bode well.

There might be more growing pains for Gunn and co. before they can get to their actual new slate -- which will start with "Superman: Legacy" in like two years. DC has yet to release 'Aquaman 2' and "The Flash" ... both of which were completed before Gunn came on.

Time will tell how those do, but for now ... 'Shazam 2' ain't paying off. In the meantime, Snyder fans are celebrating the two-year anniversary of his "Justice League" flick -- the "Snyder Cut" as it's known. And yes ... they're once again clamoring for more ZS superhero content.

There are a few "Snyder" trends going off on the bird app, including folks calling on Warner Bros. to release the rights to Zack's creations to Netflix ... where he's now making other movies. The reason ... they want their guy to continue the "Snyderverse," with all those former actors/heroes -- like Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, etc.

Of course, that probably isn't gonna happen ... but the fervent fan base demands it anyway.

Making matters even more complicated is Zack himself ... who, just this week, teased an announcement -- courtesy of one of his big DCEU villains, Darkseid. Unclear what it is ... but he had the internet on fire with speculation -- so ZS is not really going away either, it seems.

And, one last Zack mention -- where someone was, again, reveling in the glory days -- came from BA himself ... who was singing the director's praises in a new THR profile this week.

Bottom line ... the DCEU has left some mighty big shoes to fill, and those shoes keep on getting brought up as everyone waits for Gunn and Peter Safran's vision to come to life.

Starting over from scratch, as it turns out, is a long and tedious process. Lots to clear out from the garage, and not everyone wants the leftovers on sale ... as WBD is now finding out.

Just like in the movie "Bridesmaids" ... you can always count on Melissa McCarthy to keep you safe and be on the watch, but now it's on YOU to look out for any mishaps in these two images. Buckle on up, because this Frigin' Difference is like no other!

The hilarious actress was recently snapped on the movie set of "Bernard and The Genie" in New York City -- and she evidently went on a big shopping spree -- so before she drops, see if you can bag up the changes in the two shots!

Best of luck!

Lance Reddick, famous for his work on HBO's "The Wire" and the "John Wick" movie franchise has died ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Lance's body was discovered at his Studio City home Friday morning around 9:30 AM. His cause of death is currently unclear, but our law enforcement sources say it appears to be natural.

Lance had been doing a press tour for the fourth installment of the 'John Wick' franchise -- he plays Charon in the movie -- and had a guest appearance scheduled for next week on Kelly Clarkson's show.

Lance posted a selfie video on social media Wednesday morning, appearing to be at home with his dogs instead of attending the 'Wick 4' premiere in New York City ... though he never mentioned why he wasn't going to the premiere.

Before his work on 'Wick,' Lance was best known for playing fictional Baltimore Police Department officer Cedrick Daniels on the hit HBO series "The Wire" ... with his character appearing in all five seasons.

Lance also had recurring roles on a bunch of popular TV shows ... including "Fringe," "Bosch," "Oz" and "Lost."

In addition to his success on TV, Lance also acted on the big screen outside the 'Wick' franchise ... with credits in films like "Angel Has Fallen" and "Godzilla Vs. Kong."

Lance has some unreleased projects in the works ... he plays the Greek god Zeus in the upcoming Disney+ series, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians."

Born and raised in Baltimore, Lance earned a music degree from the University of Rochester and he got his MFA from Yale.

Lance was 60.

Whether it's the top o' the morning or a late-night party at the bar, these stars love a tall glass of Guinness ... so take a look at some of the biggest celebs drinkin' away in honor of St. Patrick's Day!

Hugh Jackman, Kevin Hart, and Ben Affleck are just a few of the A-listers sippin' the Irish beer ... Jason Momoa might've had a little too much -- cuz it's all over his face!

Conor McGregor is all smiles with his Guinness -- and we're sure the Irish UFC champ does a lot more of this when he celebrates his national holiday.

Even former president Barack Obama is enjoying the liquid luck of the Irish with a glass at the pub ... as a crowd nearby is clearly digging the rare sight!

American actor Mark Holton was 34 years old when he played the role of Ozzie Jones -- who accidentally swallows the killer Leprechaun's gold -- in the classic St. Patty's Day horror film "Leprechaun" back in 1993.

Mark shared the big screen with Hollywood greats like Warwick Davis as the scary and vindictive leprechaun with razor-sharp nails who is convinced his pot of gold has been taken from him, Leprechaun ... and of course Jennifer Aniston who made her film debut playing the role of the spoiled teenage girl who is obsessed with shopping, Tory Reding.

In 1985, Holton also played the role of Francis In "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" and Chubby in "Teen Wolf."

Lindsay Lohan won't have to do parenthood all on her own, 'cause she'll have Mom and Dad to help bring up the baby around Lohan family members ... so say her parents.

Michael Lohan tells TMZ he plans to be in Lindsay's kid's life, one way or another. He says he and his daughter are on good terms, and have been for years now. Ditto for his relations with his ex-wife, Dina, who's also planning to be involved as a grandma.

We're told the pregnancy has brought the Lohans closer as a family unit, and they're all on the same page in terms of introducing the child to extended relatives ... like grandpa Mike and grammy Dina.

As for logistics, Mike says he doesn't know where Lindsay will give birth, but he assumes it'll be in Dubai ... where she lives with her husband, Bader Shammas. If that's the case, ML says he probably won't make the birth in person ... but he's excited to meet his grandkid shortly thereafter.

Now, in terms of gender -- something Lindsay has yet to announce -- Mike says he knows what it is, but can't disclose it at this point. He doesn't care if it's a boy or girl, he says all that matters is the newborn is healthy.

When it comes to Dina ... she's equally excited, telling TMZ they're all in a good place, and over the moon. One big difference from Mike, though, is she says she'll be with Lindsay for the birth.

We're told this has been a long time coming for Lindsay, who Dina says always wanted to be a mom ... and who she believes will do a rock star job at it. DL says Lindsay told her the news quite a while ago, and is already working on the nursery.

She wouldn't give up whether it's pink or blue.

As for where Lindsay and Bader plan to raise their child ... Dina says they'll split time between Dubai and NY -- as LiLo's main work projects will be Stateside.

One last thing ... Dina says she's already been sharing motherly advice with Lindsay, and they're more in sync than ever. She also expects she'll have more than one kid, but no timeline for baby #2. One at a time, right?

Tom Sizemore's work on his last feature film before he died was much like a heavyweight champ giving it his all despite being past his prime ... so says his director on the project.

The late actor plays a police detective in Bruce Bellocchi's upcoming flick, "The Legend of Jack and Diane," in what turned out to be Tom's final movie role ... and TMZ got this behind-the-scenes footage of Tom on set.

As you can see in the clip, Tom's super engaged with the director and his costars as he prepares to shoot a scene as Detective Parker.

Tom was 60 when he filmed the movie, and Bruce says he looked much older than that, was often hunched over and looked very tired all the time. However, he adds ... "That being said, he was professional and I thought always gave his best."

The movie's about a young couple, Jack and Diane, in Indiana who are planning to move to L.A. when they suddenly discover secrets about the death of Diane's mother ... and once their worst fears are confirmed, they create a hit list to get revenge on everyone involved.

Tom's scenes were shot on location in and around L.A. and production wrapped in March 2022 ... about a year before Tom's death.

TMZ broke the stories ... Tom suffered a brain aneurysm at his home in February and was rushed to a hospital, where he was placed on life support. He never regained consciousness and his family ultimately made the difficult decision to remove him from life support.

He died on March 3.

The director says Tom called him a few months after production wrapped and apologized, saying he wasn't sure he gave his best work. But, Bruce says he assured Tom his performance was great.

Bruce summed up the experience with a vivid sports metaphor ... "It was like getting into the ring with the heavyweight champ and although you knew he was past his prime, it was still a surreal experience just to be able to share time together."

The director says he and Tom had a lot in common, telling us they "shared many nights in deep conversation about battling past demons and having the will to keep moving forward."

Bruce is upset the Academy omitted Tom from its 'In Memoriam' segment during the Oscars and believes they snubbed an actor who turned in some of the finest performances in modern cinema.

Kobe Bryant's hand and footprints were forever enshrined at the iconic TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, and the Bryant family was on hand for the moving ceremony ... with Natalia Bryant delivering an emotional speech about her dad.

Mamba's prints were originally cast in February 2011 -- the day before KB was named All-Star Game MVP -- but were permanently displayed on Wednesday in front of the iconic theatre.

Until today, the one-of-a-kind concrete was displayed inside the theatre and was only visible to fans seeing a show.

"I'm honored to be here today to recognize the man we all knew and love, my dad, Kobe Bryant," Natalia Bryant told fans at the ceremony, also attended by Lakers owner Jeannie Buss and Byron Scott.

"When most people knew him as a basketball player or storyteller, I got to know him and love him as my dad and let me tell you, he's the MVP of girl dads, to say the least."

"As you visit here for years to come, I encourage you to place your hands in his and take a moment to stand in his shoes."

Natalia, who is studying film in college, was clearly touched her pops was honored at such an historic location.

"Dad, you are an icon, a legend, a storyteller," Natalia said ... "And, most important, the best girl dad any young woman can dream of."

Kobe was the first athlete to have his hands and feet stamped in concrete.

Mark Wahlberg is a damn prophet -- the actor's long-standing prediction that Baker Mayfield would be Tom Brady's successor actually came true on Wednesday ... with the quarterback signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency.

Wahlberg spoke highly of the former first-overall pick with TMZ Sports on three separate occasions dating back to June 2018 ... saying Bake was the guy to take over for TB12 when the 7-time Super Bowl champion decided to retire.

Of course, Mark's initial prophecy wasn't completely accurate -- he was hoping Mayfield would take the reins in a New England Patriots uniform ... but that was before Brady moved to the Buccaneers.

We're not gonna focus on that minor detail -- after all, who could have imagined back in 2018 Brady would ever wear another uniform?!

Mayfield -- who's become buddies with Wahlberg over the years -- is joining the Bucs on a 1-year deal worth up to $8.5 million ... and has a good shot at lining up under center for Tampa Bay when the season rolls around.

Ryan Reynolds' has the Midas touch ... his Mint Mobile company just got swallowed up for a price tag of $1.35 BILLION ... and he gets a HUGE chunk of that.

Mint will be sold to T-Mobile, as part of a larger deal with Mint's parent company, Ka'ena Corp.

It's unclear exactly how much Ryan will pocket -- he's a 25% stakeholder in Mint -- but it not gonna be chump change, for sure.

Ryan released a statement, saying "We're so happy T-Mobile beat out an aggressive last-minute bid from my mom," adding the company's 5G network is slightly more sophisticated than "my mom's slightly-above-average mahjong skills."

Mint Mobile founders Rizwan Kassim and David Glickman will stay on board at T-Mobile and continue to manage their company ... while Ryan will remain as the spokesperson. The deal is set to close later this year.

Brooke Shields says she was sexually assaulted in her 20s -- something she says she blamed herself for at the time ... and will be discussed further in her new doc.

The 1980s icon opened up to People Mag ahead of her new Hulu project, 'Pretty Baby,' which drops next month. After having already teased the fact she was assaulted in her youth, she describes it here for the first time ... and says it went down during her college years.

Shields says she was a recent Princeton grad and went out to dinner with an unnamed Hollywood exec, whom she thought was going to land her a new acting gig ... this after her career had somewhat flatlined. Unclear where/when this happened -- she doesn't say.

Shields says he invited her back to his hotel afterward so she could make a call -- and she went with him. Once there, she claims he sexually assaulted her ... but doesn't go into much detail. All she says is she didn't fight back -- and felt guilty afterward.

Shields says of her thoughts at the time ... "I kept saying, 'I shouldn't have done that. Why did I go up with him? I shouldn't have had that drink at dinner."

She went on to describe her reaction like this ... "It was really easy to disassociate because by then it was old hat," she recalls. "And because it was a fight-or-flight type of choice. Fight was not an option, so you just leave your body. 'You're not there. It didn't happen."

We got Brooke earlier this week on camera, and she talked to us about the new doc as well ... getting emotional about it, and telling us just how hard her life had been.

Brendan Fraser's Oscars celebration is now a full-fledged family affair ... after his fun night at a legendary Sunset Strip club where his son hopped onstage to jam out.

TMZ obtained video of Brendan and his son, Leland, having a ball Monday night at Whisky a Go Go in WeHo ... chilling in the green room and signing the performer's wall.

Brendan takes a few beats to find the perfect space to leave his John Hancock, with onlookers making a wisecrack about his handwriting ... and then Leland follows suit, and gets an earful too.

Folks who were there tell us Brendan and his son got to the venue around 9 PM and watched an '80s cover band perform ... with Leland even jumping on the stage to play guitar with the band at one point.

Leland's dad was a big hit at the Whisky, as tons of people came up to his table to congratulate him 24 hours after his Academy Award victory ... and we're told he didn't turn away anyone. Folks who met Brendan described him as very down-to-earth.

Travis Kelce is weighing in on the NFL's greatest tight end debate ... telling TMZ Sports he's not worthy of the G.O.A.T. title.

Many have thrown Kelce's name into the debate lately -- including Giants star Darren Waller and Chiefs great Christian Okoye, who both told us #87 will go down as the best to ever play the position by the end of his career ... over legends like Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Gates.

So ... now that he's a two-time champion, what does Kelce think about being considered the tight end G.O.A.T.??

"Nah, there's a lot of great tight ends out there," Kelce said. "I can't just say I'm the best."

The Kansas City Chiefs superstar points out his set-up with Patrick Mahomes and a Super Bowl-winning team certainly helps his success ... adding, "I know I'm taking advantage of the situation, though."

Kelce already ranks among the top tight ends in receiving yards, catches and touchdowns through 10 seasons ... and shows no signs of slowing down. If he ends up #1 in all those categories by the time he retires, it'll be hard to argue he isn't the G.O.A.T., no matter what he thinks.

Speaking of being humble, we also talked to Kelce about the rave reviews he got after hosting "Saturday Night Live" last weekend ... and he downplays the high praise -- telling us he had a lot of fun, but isn't too sure about having enough talent to make it in acting.

Alec Baldwin's gonna like this ... the special prosecutor overseeing the "Rust" shooting case says she's stepping down.

Andrea Reeb had been under fire from Alec's legal team, with his defense calling for Reeb to step down because Baldwin's camp has argued that her trying the case while also being a state legislator in New Mexico violates the state’s constitution.

Well, Alec and co. got their wish Tuesday, when Reeb announced she was stepping down from prosecuting him.

In a statement to TMZ, Reeb says ... "After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to step down as special prosecutor in the 'Rust' case. My priority in this case -- and in every case I’ve prosecuted in my 25-year career -- has been justice for the victim."

Reeb adds ... "However, it has become clear that the best way I can ensure justice is served in this case is to step down so that the prosecution can focus on the evidence and the facts, which clearly show a complete disregard for basic safety protocols led to the death of Halyna Hutchins."

The challenge from Alec's legal team was also referenced, with Reeb ending her statement by saying ... "I will not allow questions about my serving as a legislator and prosecutor to cloud the real issue at hand."

The office of New Mexico's First Judicial District Attorney tells us official paperwork has been filed with the court to formally remove Reeb as special prosecutor.

Reeb stepping down is a huge development ... there have already been some miscues by the prosecution, with Baldwin's lawyers recently getting the D.A. to drop the gun enhancement charge against him.

Alec's still charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Hutchins ... and last month he pled not guilty.

Lindsay Lohan and her husband Bader Shammas are starting a family ... she's got a bun in the oven.

Lindsay tells TMZ ... "We are very excited for our new family member to arrive and we are looking forward to this next chapter of our lives!"

This baby will be the first for Lindsay ... so this is a huge life milestone for the 36-year-old.

Lindsay was last photographed a little over a month ago, and she was wearing loose fitting clothes covering her belly.

Remember ... Lindsay and Bader tied the knot last year, with the announcement coming on her birthday. The expecting parents started dating just before the pandemic shut down the world, and in November 2021 she announced their engagement.

Lindsay's been through all sorts of ups and downs over her three-decade career in Hollywood, and now she's going to be a mother.

Congrats!!!

Robert Blake getting left out of the Oscars "In Memoriam" tribute was a big mistake on The Academy's part -- at least, according to the late actor's son, who's also pissed his dad's death was a punchline.

Noah Blake tells TMZ ... people are allowed to have their own opinion about his father -- which obviously many have -- but he says when it comes to an annually anticipated segment like the Oscars Memoriam, opinions shouldn't be a factor.

He also points out his dad wasn't the only one left out ... as you know, stars like Tom Sizemore, Anne Heche, and Paul Sorvino were excluded from the broadcast. It's something that seems to happen every year, and Noah thinks it once again wasn't handled well.

Noah also gave us his thoughts on Jimmy Kimmel's joke about whether or not to include Robert in the segment -- obviously, he found it to be in poor taste. He also says it landed flat, because he was confused if the "interactive portion" was legit or just a gag.

For what it's worth, the audience laughed ... clearly getting it was a gag.

He adds he doesn't usually believe in jokes being "too soon," but points out the fine line Jimmy was walking on when he poked fun at the actor.

Noah tells us he's going to go live on Instagram at 5:30 PM PST Tuesday to talk about his dad and his life.