Movies

The writers' strike has no sign of slowing down, as a massive swarm of folks turned out for a rally more than a month and a half after members of the WGA decided enough was enough.

Thousands of writers gathered at Pan Pacific Park in Los Angeles Wednesday ... with a ton of them carrying their picket signs and donning their blue WGA strike shirts.

In case ya forgot, the big strike started back on May 2 -- and while the bigwigs in Hollywood are holding their ground as projects are now missing a writing staff, it seems the creatives aren't backing down either.

As we reported, there have been a ton of good times being had at picket lines throughout Los Angeles ... accompanied by a bunch of food donated by celebs like Jimmy Fallon, Snoop Dogg, and even Flavor Flav!

Speaking of celebs, a lot of A-listers have been spotted carrying picket signs left and right during the strike -- folks like Tina Fey, Bob Odenkirk, Susan Sarandon, and Pete Davidson.

We've even seen musical performances popping up at the various studios, including ones from Weezer and Imagine Dragons' Dan Reynolds!

Shaun White and Nina Dobrev are basically morphing into the same person at this point -- the couple threw on some matching outfits and shared an electric scooter as they zoomed through NYC this week!!

The retired snowboarder and his actress girlfriend decided to squeeze together on one vehicle as they coasted to their destination ... but they didn't seem to mind, 'cause they were both smiling from ear to ear!!

To make things even more adorable, White and Dobrev matched for the occasion ... rocking all black tops and bottoms, white shoes and sunglasses.

36-year-old Shaun took control of the steering during the joyride ... while Nina, 34, appeared to multitask and check out her phone. Gotta give the "Vampire Diaries" star some props 'cause she was wearing a bit of a heel!!

White and Dobrev first met in 2019 ... and have been inseparable ever since.

Pharrell Williams is getting tons of love from Hollywood -- even across the pond -- as the new men's creative director for Louis Vuitton ... his debut show was packed with some huge stars, from A to Z.

Ya gotta see who all showed up for Pharrell's Tuesday night show at the famed Pont Neuf in Paris ... we're talking Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, Kim Kardashian, Naomi Campbell, Megan Thee Stallion and more.

The show was for LV's Men's Spring-Summer 2024 Collection exposé and it also drew the likes of Anitta, Zendaya, Maluma, Offset, Coi Leray, Tyler, the Creator, Willow and Jaden Smith, J Balvin and his girlfriend, Valentina Ferrer.

Pharrell also got support from the sports world ... with LeBron James and wife Savannah coming through as well as Lewis Hamilton.

Jay-Z and Beyonce were in the house too as they continue their vacation in France ... and they were jamming out to a new song that played from Clipse.

After the show, Pharrell and HOV performed for the crowd.

Pharrell, of course, is the long-time producer for Clipse ... and Pusha T and No Malice walked the runway for their buddy.

Pharrell even brought a choir from his hometown all the way to Paris ... and it looks like a great time was had by all.

Australian native and former actress Holly Valance had a successful career that took off in her late teens - early 20s with her TV roles, Felicity Scully on the soap opera "Neighbours" and Nika Volek in "Prison Break."

Some of her notable movies include playing the pop star in "Taken" alongside Liam Neeson ... She landed starring roles in "DOA: Dead or Alive" with Devon Aoki and Paris Hilton's comedy film "National Lampoon's Pledge This!" with Paula Garcés.

In 2013, Holly stepped away from her acting career to focus on her family and charity work.

The search for actor Julian Sands continued this weekend -- after he disappeared on a hiking trip back in January -- and the results were tragically familiar, with no signs.

The San Bernardino Sheriff's Dept. says they went out once again Saturday with a rescue team of about 80 volunteers -- including civilians and workers ... all in hopes of finding any sign of the British actor. Unfortunately, the agency says they came up empty-handed

SBSD says they used two helicopters and even drones to scour the Mt. Baldy region -- where Sands was hiking at the time. Ground crews were deployed as well ... but there was some tech used to reach inaccessible sections.

While it's now June -- when all the snow would presumably be gone -- the Sheriff's Dept. notes there are still portions of the mountain that are buried in powder and ice ... not to mention being surrounded by steep terrain and ravines that make it difficult to navigate.

The Sheriff's Dept. goes on to say they've conducted 8 separate searches -- consisting of both ground and air tactics -- and that their volunteer hours have crept up toward 500.

Despite not having found him yet ... SBSD says Sands' missing person's case remains open and active -- but those search efforts will continue in a limited capacity going forward.

Some members of Sands' family have said they've already said their goodbyes.

Former "Days of Our Lives" star Cody Longo died from years of hard drinking ... according to the medical examiner.

Cody's autopsy report, obtained by TMZ, says the late actor's cause of death was "chronic ethanol abuse" ... and the report also notes the manner of death was natural.

What's more, the autopsy says Cody's body was decomposing when he was found dead ... and the death scene was littered with alcohol bottles.

TMZ broke the story ... in February, 34-year-old Cody was found dead in a bed at a residence in Austin, Texas.

Sadly, the autopsy results will not come as a shock to those who knew Cody -- his family previously told us he had struggled with alcohol abuse for years and went to rehab in the summer of 2022.

They already believed he had relapsed and that alcoholism ultimately killed him.

Jennifer Lopez is kinda flexing on everyone by making sure we all know she's got a serious hunk o' man in Ben Affleck ... by posting a thirst trap to honor his daddy status.

BA was front and center on J Lo's Instagram Sunday as she dropped a sweet Father's Day tribute gallery. Her first slide is a bathroom mirror pic of Ben shirtless ... which shows that he's in great shape, and maybe even pantless.

There's another couple of photos with more clothing ... shots of the 2 of them snuggling together.

Her caption reads, "Daddy Appreciation Post Happy Father’s Day Papa." She adds, "And Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing Papas out there!! We love you and appreciate you more than you will ever know."

Ben and Jen don't share any children together, but he's got kids of his own -- and ditto for her, obviously. They've done well at blending their families, as the brood always seems to be hanging out together in just about every setting. Makes sense, they are married now.

Henry Cavill was nowhere to be seen in the new 'Flash' movie -- a strategic move courtesy of James Gunn and co. -- but strangely ... Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot got the green light.

THR dropped this news, reporting on what went into the final cameo that teased a new Batman. According to them, there were a lot of moving pieces/re-shoots that went on right down to the wire ... with the final scene being reshot in January to include the character people see at the end as the "new Bruce Wayne." Spoiler ... it ain't BA or Michael Keaton.

Apparently, the ending underwent 3 different iterations before landing on what people saw in theaters. First -- when Warner Bros. was still part of AT&T -- the final scene was going to feature Ezra Miller's Barry Allen seeing Keaton's Batman and Sasha Calle's Supergirl.

After WB merged with Discovery, however, a couple of new lieutenants tweaked that a bit ... to include Cavill's Superman and Gadot's Wonder Woman -- in addition to Keaton and Calle.

This 2nd iteration came together when WB still thought Cavill had a shot of reprising the iconic role -- which was spearheaded and somewhat cemented by The Rock/'Black Adam' last year -- but got completely undone when Gunn came onboard as the new DC chief.

When Gunn was hired, THR says he completely scrapped the new ending which featured Gadot, Cavill, Keaton and Calle -- and, instead, opted to insert a former Batman actor as a little nod to the canon ... George Clooney.

The reported rationale for this is that Gunn and co-DC chief Peter Safran didn't wanna give fans of the Snyder-verse any false hope about these characters returning in their new revamped universe ... so they got rid of the two cameos at the end and went another way.

Here's what's strange about this ... while Gunn and Safran might've nixed Gadot from the final scene -- they still allowed her to make a cameo earlier in the movie. And ditto for Affleck, obviously, as it'd been well-known for quite a while that he'd be in this flick.

So what we're getting at is this ... it appears there was selective casting for 'The Flash.' Gunn and Safran were ultimately cool with Gadot and Affleck getting some screentime (if not for the last time) but for whatever reason ... they don't seem to have been okay with HC getting a final bow as the Man of Steel. This looks to be backed by their huge about-face with him.

Now, the question ... what might Gunn and Safran have against Cavill, who really appears to have been screwed out of the DCEU in this transition? In reality, probably nothing, but what's become evident in the past few months is that Gunn has his sights on a new Supes.

The new DC head has already said he's starting his new universe with 'Superman: Legacy' ... and due to that, it tracks that he'd wanna lose any trace of Cavill's Superman as soon as possible. In fact, if he'd been hired pre-'Black Adam' -- you could argue he likely would've nixed that whole post-credit cameo ... which, in the end, amounted to just fan service.

It seems like conservatives have just learned the Oscars will be different going forward -- namely, having new inclusivity rules for eligibility ... and, yes, the outrage is in full swing.

Here's the deal ... the Post ran a story citing unnamed Academy voters who are apparently angry about AMPAS's forthcoming rule change for Best Picture contenders. Starting in 2024, there are certain requirements films will have to meet to be considered for the category.

As the article notes ... there are revamped criteria for Best Picture nominees starting next year, not to mention every year after that. Those rules, in a nutshell, include -- 1) having a lead or significant supporting character from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group; 2) having a main storyline that focuses on an underrepresented group; or 3) at least 30% of the cast must come from underrepresented groups (be it ethnic, LGBTQ+, disabled, etc).

There's more to it -- which you can read on AMPAS's site -- but essentially ... this is what the new classification boils down to. Movies have to reflect a diverse melting pot and POVs.

Right on cue, several right-wing media/Twitter personalities jumped on this news (which isn't actually new, but more on that later) and started to accuse the Academy of going "woke."

One such dude, Darren Grimes, writes ... "So it's no longer Best Picture then. It's now the film that appeases diversity tsars the most that wins. Award ceremonies are meaningless, Hollywood has slaughtered them on the altar of woke." Clearly, he isn't on board.

Another conservative figure, Charlie Kirk, reflected this position himself ... "Under new rules for the Academy Awards, no film can win Best Picture unless it hits arbitrary diversity quotas. Under this rule, The Godfather, Lord of the Rings, or Saving Private Ryan would all be ineligible.  This is what they mean by 'diversity' but it’s the opposite of diversity. They want a uniform, politically correct monoculture devoid of any creativity or free expression."

If you hop into the 'Best Picture' trend that's on Twitter right now ... you'll see more takes like this -- anger, indignation, outrage ... and on and on. Strangely enough, word of these changes have been reported on for a few years now ... so everyone's late to the party here.

As to their point about former Best Picture winners not being eligible under these new guidelines -- yes, that is technically correct. Whether that helps or hurts the film industry, at large, though is certainly debatable ... and we're sure this convo will continue as we get closer to the 2024 award show. Ya gotta figure ... AMPAS's heart is in the right place here.

BTW, a few notable celebs have actually sounded off on this issue too of late -- including one Richard Dreyfuss ... who was recently asked about it on a PBS-ran program.

The guy didn't bite his tongue on how he felt -- however if you listen to his response closely ... it becomes clear he either misunderstood the question or conflated it with another topic in Hollywood ... namely, accurate casting. In any case -- RD isn't a fan of this either.

The home Pete Davidson smashed into with a Mercedes-Benz is no more -- it's like gone gone, nothing but a mound of dirt for some mysterious reason.

The 2-story Bev Hills house, which used to sit at the intersection of famed Rodeo Drive and a smaller street was recently razed, just the outline of its foundation remains on the lot.

As we reported, Pete was just charged Friday with reckless driving for crashing into the home back in March. Police say he was speeding through the neighborhood with his GF Chase Sui Wonders in the passenger seat.

At the time, the damage to the house seemed very minimal, and everyone figured Pete -- or the homeowner's insurance -- would just cover the repairs. It's unclear how much damage, financially speaking, was done ... but it is crystal clear a brand-new house will soon be on that lot.

As for why the owner decided to go all scorched earth on his abode ... no clue, really. We've reached out, but no word back yet.

BTW, if Pete's convicted, he could get up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Lil Dicky's "Dave" series recently finished Season 3 with a big bang -- A-list cameos from Drake, Rachel McAdams and Brad Pitt, who's apparently a good rapper, so claims series star GaTa!!!

We caught up with GaTa at LAX, where he revealed fans might be getting more from Dicky and Drake ... like IRL. The scripted finale ended with Drizzy pump-faking like they were going to collab on a track.

GaTa says there's a strong possibility they'll create something down the line, as Dicky is currently working on music in between "Dave" seasons.

He can't confirm Season 4 is happening just yet, but if the fan who wanted to give him props in the middle of our interview is any indication, it'll return soon enough ... that is if the Writers' strike gets hammered out.

Brad Pitt's rap scene on the show also made trending topic waves and GaTa swears Mr. Fight Club can spit for real!!!

He says Hollywood elites all have dual and hidden talents, and BP -- like himself -- is no exception.

Dads have been the talk of the town this weekend, and while it's important to recognize all the daddy duties ... it's also key to highlight what's going on underneath IT all ... take a good, hard look at these famous fathers, and see if you can identify which celebrated dad is in the sexy shot!

Assembled in this "Hot Celeb Dad Bods" gallery is a wide range of singers, actors, athletes and more ... all in all, it's DILFS galore! Put your celeb knowledge to the test, and see if you can eye which dads are baring it all!

Wood Harris is getting the stamp of approval from the guy he portrayed in LeBron James' new "Shooting Stars" movie ... 'cause St. Vincent-St. Mary head coach Dru Joyce says the actor was spectacular!!

TMZ Sports spoke with the Lakers superstar's longtime childhood coach about the new Peacock flick that documents the historic rise of LeBron and his teammates Sian Cotton, Romeo Travis, Willie McGee and Lil Dru en route to high school championships ... and he said he was pleased with the end result.

Joyce admits he was a bit nervous to watch the movie at first -- after all, Hollywood has its way with things -- but once he checked it out, all his worries went away.

"The thing that I was most concerned about, what I wanted to see portrayed most was the friendship and how the friendship was built," Joyce told us. "So, that came across very clear. So, I was happy."

Joyce believes Harris did a great job showing his real coaching skills ... which focused much more on raising good young men than simply basketball players.

In fact, Joyce told us Harris reached out and bounced ideas prior to shooting scenes ... but ultimately, "I just kind of let him run with it."

"I thought he caught the essence of me."

Rebel Wilson is NOT planning a blowout wedding at Disneyland, despite a report to the contrary ... she says she's getting married somewhere else, and it's not related to an old Mouse House ban.

The actress, who attended the launch party for her new dating app, Fluid, on Thursday, tells TMZ ... she and her fianceé Ramona Agruma's decision to forgo a Disney fairy tale on their big day has nothing to do with the fact Rebel was once banned from Disneyland for 30 days.

It's pretty obvious Rebel holds no grudge ... she popped the question to Ramona while at the Happiest Place on Earth for Valentine's Day -- but she tells us she was never planning to exchange their nuptials there, despite a recent report she's planning a "no-expenses-spared wedding" at Walt Disney's OG park.

Instead, Rebel tells us she and Ramona will say "I do" somewhere else -- they don't know exactly where yet, but it won't be Disneyland.

Rebel, who hosted the party with her best friend, Emmy-winning TV presenter Carly Steel, says their engagement was epic and special, and she's thankful park officials roped off a section on a busy day ... so she could propose in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

As for that old ban -- if you're unaware, Rebel revealed earlier this year that she once snapped a selfie while inside one of the park's secret bathrooms -- a big no-no -- and was shut out for 30 days.

She says it was a few years back, and Disneyland honchos actually asked her when she wanted to serve the 30 days, and she picked a month when she was busy filming.

You'll fall in love with this mashed-up famous father so much, it may just end in a proposal! Put down up your mobile devices, because unscrambling this celebrity will take some focus ... Can you pick up the dad behind the altered pic?

This Canadian native has a long list of accomplishments including his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a starring role in "Deadpool" and exploring the woods with the iconic Sandra Bullock. Just this year, he and his "Gossip Girl" added a fourth kiddo to the mix.

A new viral debate has overtaken Twitter, and it's all about who's got the funnier slate of films under his belt ... with the contenders being Chris Tucker and Martin Lawrence.

The question was posed on the bird app this weekend, and it was asked in a hypothetical way ... namely, who would win in a Movie Verzuz in their prime -- which makes this poll all the more difficult to answer, as both of these comedy titans have great flicks to their name.

Twitter users have been sounding off the past 24 hours, and it seems the internet might be torn on this one ... if not giving Chris a slight edge, although the margin is razor thin.

Of course, they're citing four flicks in particular that Chris had between the mid-to-late '90s and the early 2000s which rocketed him into super stardom in Hollywood. Those cult classics would be ... 'Friday,' 'Money Talks,' 'Rush Hour' and 'Rush Hour 2' -- an incredible lineup.

Martin ain't a slouch though ... and he's got quite the stockpile in his corner too. For his "prime" movie run -- folks are pointing to 'Bad Boys,' 'A Thin Line', 'Life,' 'Blue Streak' and 'Big Momma's House' ... just to name a few. He's got a stacked roster.

While Martin certainly has more movie credits to his name -- and more comedies in general -- a good handful are suggesting that Chris' top films might actually take the cake here ... just because of how iconic his films/roles turned out to be in the grand scheme of things.

As one person eloquently put ... Chris could probably do 'Blue Streak,' but Martin probably couldn't have done Fifth Element as well or as uniquely as Chris did -- which seems fair.

Obviously, this question is very much in the eye of the beholder -- and it all really boils down to your personal taste and comedy sensibilities. Even if Chris' top movies are, perhaps, funnier than Martin's (which is very debatable) the fact is ... Martin still has 'Martin.'

It's his iconic sitcom that ran for several seasons in the '90s ... and it kinda puts him in another stratosphere of stardom. The guy did it all ... standup, TV and movies, a triple-threat.

Strangely enough, both dudes have somewhat faded from the spotlight in recent years -- but that doesn't mean they're not working. We know Martin is currently filming 'Bad Boys 4' with Will Smith -- and there's rumblings CT is teaming with Jackie Chan for 'Rush Hour 4.'

Clearly, everyone's entitled to their opinion ... and the Twitter-sphere has already weighed on. So, in that spirit ... we gotta ask here ourselves -- who you got between Chris and Martin in terms of gut-busting laughs, classic lines and overall entertainment?