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Henry Cavill apparently might've had the role of James Bond locked up in the 2000s -- and he would've gotten away with it too ... if it wasn't for that meddling Daniel Craig.

This revelation was made courtesy of Martin Campbell -- the director of "Casino Royale," which was the first new Bond movie to feature DC post-Pierce Brosnan. According to him, not only did Henry throw his hat in the ring for the coveted role ... but he was a real contender.

Here's what Campbell had to say about HC's audition way back when ... "He looked great in the audition. His acting was tremendous. And look, if Daniel didn’t exist Henry would have made an excellent Bond."

Campbell adds, "He looked terrific, he was in great physical shape … very handsome, very chiseled. He just looked a little young at that time back then."

Now, while Campbell notes that Henry wasn't his personal favorite at the time out of the final group being considered -- he still concedes ... the dude certainly could've done it. Unfortunately, Craig rolled through and gave it a shot -- and ended up landing the gig.

Now on the prospect of Henry potentially circling back and snagging the role of 007 now, Campbell addresses what most everyone else has said about HC at this point ... namely, he's kinda considered a geyser by Hollywood standards, especially for a multi-year commitment.

He explains that Craig spent a good decade-plus playing Bond -- and that sort of time could start to become noticeable on an actor like Henry, who's already in his 40s. MC continues ... "Henry’s 40, so by the time he’s done the third one he’s going to be 50 and anything beyond that’s two, three years per Bond. He’s in good shape Henry, he’s a good guy."

Amber Heard has bounced back from her devastating defeat in her defamation trial against ex Johnny Depp ... making her triumphant return to the silver screen and a huge splash at an Italian film festival.

The actress -- who seemed down for the count after a civil jury awarded Depp over $10 million in damages at their 2022 trial -- arrived at the 69th Taormina Film Festival for the premiere of her new film with costar Luca Calvani.

Amber was all smiles and laughter as she sipped drinks with Calvani -- proving nobody is defined by one bad moment in time ... and for Amber, that means the Depp case.

Amber also looked radiant in a white top, cream-colored skirt and black shoes as she mingled with the masses to promote her new movie in which she plays a widowed American psychiatrist who flies to Colombia to investigate the case of a disturbed child allegedly possessed by the devil.

It certainly appears Amber has ripped a page out of the Lindsay Lohan playbook ... You might recall ...  Lindsay also made a comeback from her drug and alcohol problems to star in the 2022 Netflix movie, "Falling for Christmas" -- her first major film role in years.

Actor Frederic Forrest, who costarred with Bette Midler in the highly acclaimed film, "The Rose," has died.

Midler announced Forrest passed away Friday night, tweeting ... "The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has died. Thank you to all of his fans and friends for all their support these last few months."

She continued ... "He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace."

Forrest's cause of death was not disclosed.

The Oscar-nominated actor first hit it big in 1979 when he scored the part of Jay "Chef" Hicks in the Francis Ford Coppola war movie classic, "Apocalypse Now."

That same year, Forrest was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dyer in "The Rose."

He went on to perform in dozens of movies throughout the '80's, '90's and early 2000s, including "The Two Jakes," "One From The Heart," and "Falling Down."

Forrest was 86.

Jussie Smollett has a lot of balls in the air ... at the same time he's appealing his conviction in his hoax hate crime case, he's also directing a new movie with a big star, who just so happens to be one of his biggest supporters.

Jussie was in his element Thursday in Orange County on the movie set for "The Lost Holiday," an upcoming film starring Vivica A. Fox.

As you see, Jussie and Vivica worked closely together on set ... adding another layer to their long-standing working relationship.

Remember ... Jussie and Vivica both starred on "Empire" back in 2019 when Jussie was allegedly attacked in Chicago ... a claim that police said turned out to be a hoax and ultimately led to the conviction he's now appealing.

If the appeal fails, Jussie will have to spend 5 months behind bars. The appeal has been continued 5 times, and the court said no more ... the hearing is set for December.

Vivica has staunchly stood by Jussie's side throughout the entire saga ... telling us in 2021 she wanted to work with him again ... and now she's getting her wish.

Jussie had a huge smile on his face on set, though it's unclear if he's getting in front of the camera for this project or just directing.

As for his case, Jussie is appealing and his legal team is arguing the conviction should be overturned because his due process rights were violated.

2:38 PM PT -- Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's attorney, Jason Bowles, tells us, "Something is rotten in Denmark. It is shocking that after 20 months of investigation, the special prosecutor now throws in a completely new charge against Ms. Gutierrez Reed, with no prior notice or any witness statements, lab reports, or evidence to support it."

He continues, "This comes on the heels of the state letting its lead investigator go, and the investigator raising serious concerns about the investigation in an email. This stinks to high heaven and is retaliatory and vindictive."

"Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has found herself in the crosshairs of prosecutors once again, this time for allegedly transferring narcotics the day Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on set.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Reed's been charged with tampering with evidence after prosecutors claim she, "did transfer narcotics to another person with the intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of herself."

The documents do not state what type of narcotic Gutierrez-Reed allegedly had in her possession, but the development is significant in light of other allegations prosecutors have made about the disgraced armorer.

In another filing last week, prosecutors accused Reed of drinking and using marijuana after working on the set ... explaining she may have shown up on the job hungover and lacking proper alertness and awareness to perform her duties efficiently.

At the time of the allegations, Hannah's attorney, Jason Bowles, told us, "The prosecution has so mishandled this case and the case is so weak that they are now resorting to character assassination tactics to further taint the jury pool. This investigation and prosecution has not been about seeking Justice; for them it’s been about finding a convenient scapegoat."

Hannah's also been charged with involuntary manslaughter for Hutchins' death.

The upcoming movie on Elvis and Priscilla has enraged some members of the Elvis Estate, who say the flick is a travesty.

Multiple officials connected to the estate tell TMZ, the film, "Priscilla," was produced without the Estate's knowledge or consent ... and they're ripping it as another Priscilla money grab.

The movie is written and directed by Sofia Coppola and its based on Priscilla's famous 1985 memoir, "Elvis and Me," telling the story of their early romance. Jacob Elordi plays Elvis opposite Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla.

One Estate official who saw the film describes Coppla's writing and directing as "horrible," adding "It feels like a college movie. The set designs are just horrific, it's not what Graceland looks like."

Priscilla has a very different take ... she tells TMZ, "I am very excited to see the interpretation of my book by the masterful Sofia Coppola. She has such an extraordinary perspective and I have always been such an admirer of her work. I'm certain this movie will take everyone on an emotional journey."

It sounds like the movie does take the Elvis officials on an emotional journey ... just not a good one.

Money has been a bone of contention with the Presley family lately ... as we reported, Priscilla settled her legal beef with her granddaughter Riley, who paid Priscilla a lot of money -- we're told millions of dollars -- to end her beef over who will control Lisa Marie's trust.

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!

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.

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?

Ezra Miller's "The Flash" has been getting hailed as the greatest comic book movie of all time -- but it seems audiences don't really care ... 'cause, so far, they're hardly going to see it.

The 1st-day box office numbers are in ... and they're not very hot. Between Thursday's previews and Friday's haul, "The Flash" has only grossed $24.5 million domestically -- which means this flick isn't even close to hitting the original estimates of $70 mil+.

At this point, 'Flash' is pegged to hit between $55-$59 million through the 3-day weekend -- which is a huge disappointment considering how much good word of mouth it'd generated. BTW, The Rock's "Black Adam" performed slightly better last year on opening day ... and that film was largely considered a flop big picture. With that in mind, this is truly a disaster.

You might've heard about the buzz over the past several months -- tons of screenings were held by Warner Bros., and some were walking away calling it one of the best DC installments to date. There was even an anecdote about Tom Cruise recently seeing it ... and calling the director to praise him and the film. Like we said, it's been the talk of the town for a while.

Despite all this favorable publicity -- outside of Ezra's personal scandals -- it would appear your average moviegoer doesn't give a rip ... but it's hard to say why at this point.

Some might attribute it to Ezra themself ... who's been mired in controversies for about 2 years now. It might also be the lack of a traditional press run the studio opted for -- there were hardly any interviews in the lead-up -- but others are pointing to James Gunn.

Of course, Gunn is at the helm of DC now ... and he's strongly suggested he's going to be rebooting the entire DCU, and sorta doing away with whatever Zack Snyder established.

"The Flash" is one of the last few leftovers pre-Gunn ... so, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't seem like anything that happens in this movie really matters -- seeing how JG is going to start from scratch anyway. In other words, little to no stakes seem to be at play.

It's gotta be a bummer for the studio heads who were hoping cameos and reprisals would drum up excitement for "The Flash." Remember, Michael Keaton came to play Batman again ... and there's been word of lots of other Batman actors making an appearance as well.

In the end, though ... it doesn't seem like people were all that into it. Plus, if you watch the movie itself (which we have) then you'll come to realize -- there's a lot of time-jumping and universe rebooting ... and it's somewhat hard to follow what the hell is really going on.

For instance, the final question of who's Batman gets teased (and left as a cliffhanger). If you thought it'd be Keaton, Ben Affleck, or even Christian Bale ... you're dead wrong.

!!!SPOILER ALERT ... WE'RE ABOUT TO SPOIL "THE FLASH" ... SO LOOK AWAY NOW!!!

Anyone 'memba this guy??? Yeah, he's back too ... but again, to what end is anyone's guess.

Al Pacino is officially a father at 83 ... his girlfriend, Noor Alfallah, gave birth and the two are already out and hitting the town together as a couple.

Sources close to the couple tell us Noor recently gave birth, and both parents are ecstatic. We don't yet know the sex of the baby.

And get this, Al and Noor were spotted out for dinner together in L.A. Wednesday, hitting up Sunset Tower. On the way out, Al rode shotgun with Noor behind the wheel ... you can also see what appears to be a car seat in the back, unclear if Baby Pacino tagged along.

The two definitely appear to be in great spirits, and obviously have a lot to celebrate. TMZ broke the story the 2 were expecting last month, at the time, we were told Noor was about 8 months along.

Al and Noor have been an item since April 2022, but as we first reported, the pregnancy came as a total shock to Al -- with sources saying he wasn't planning on a 4th kid.

What's more, we were told Al was convinced he couldn't have any more kids this late in the game due to medical issues that should've prevented the whole thing, but alas, he's a Daddio once again.

We reached out to Al's rep for comment ... so far, no word back.

Congrats to the whole fam!!!

Treat Williams was alert and talking in the minutes after the motorcycle accident that ultimately claimed his life, a new report says.

On Wednesday, People magazine interviewed an eyewitness who revealed he saw Treat fly 15 feet into the air after his chopper collided with an SUV in East Dorset, Vermont.

Police said Treat was unable to maneuver out of the way of the oncoming Honda Element SUV, which had just made a turn into his path. The other motorist suffered minor injuries and has not been charged or cited in Monday's crash, although cops are still investigating.

The witness, Matt Rapphahn, told People … he sprinted over to Treat -- who was lying on the ground -- to see if the actor was ok. Rapphahn then dashed back to his auto repair shop and called 911, noting the SUV driver got out of his vehicle to console Treat.

Rapphahn said, "It was hard to tell [it was Treat] with the helmet on, but [the SUV driver] knows him — knew him — and he was saying, 'Oh, my God, it's Treat.'"

Paramedics quickly arrived on scene and started working on Treat, who was "conscious and verbal," according to Rapphahn.

Rapphahn went on to say Treat was in enormous pain as first responders moved him onto a stretcher so he could be placed inside an ambulance.

Ezra Miller showed face in public for the first time in a long time during "The Flash" premiere -- and just as promised ... they didn't answer many questions, and kept it moving.

The embattled actor -- who's been at the center of several arrests and scandals over the past year and change -- walked the red carpet Monday in Los Angeles ... where their new DC superhero film debuted in a highly-anticipated screening at the Ovation in Hollywood.

It'd been reported EM would show up in the flesh and pose for pics ... but they weren't fielding very much from reporters and other media members on hand ... probably for good reason. Word is, WBD wants Ezra to lay low and just let this movie come out -- all in hopes that the hype and solid word-of-mouth will wash over their lingering drama.

In that spirit, Ezra stuck to the script while heading inside ... maintaining a fairly neutral expression and barely cracking a smile or throwing a wave. They did stop for cameras and pose with fellow costars and crew -- including director Andy Muschietti -- but that's not all.

While many believed Ezra wouldn't talk to journalists, period ... they actually did. It sounds like nothing was asked about their troubles -- and they only spoke about the new flick.

Interesting choice, no doubt. Remember, there hasn't been too much publicity and press ahead of "The Flash" -- and if there was, other actors handled it -- and that was apparently on purpose and the studio's call. You'll recall ... Ezra has been accused of quite a lot.

In addition to their burglary case in Vermont -- for which they copped a plea deal to a lesser charge of trespassing -- Ezra has allegedly wreaked havoc elsewhere ... including in the great state of Hawaii, where several people claimed they'd either harassed or attacked individuals.

Two of those incidents resulted in arrests ... not to mention wild body cam footage.

Of course, there's also the alleged choking incident -- where Ezra appears to have gotten their hands around the neck of an unsuspecting woman in Iceland, and taking her down.

There's been more allegations about Ezra -- everything from alleged child grooming/kidnapping to hoarding weapons/drugs and more -- but it appears they're ready to turn the page and get a move on with this film ... which is supposedly quite great.

As we've reported ... Ezra has apologized for their erratic behavior and vowed to seek professional mental health help in getting back on track.

Considering the director of "The Flash" has already said he'd recast Ezra in this role for any potential sequel in a heartbeat -- plus, the reported fact a sequel is, in fact, already written -- it seems Ezra's already on the road to redemption and then some. Almost a 180, really.

"The Flash" hits theaters and opens wide everywhere Friday.

Tenoch Huerta, famous for playing Namor in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," is denying a recent sexual assault allegation against him.

The Marvel star broke his silence Monday after being accused Saturday of sexually assaulting musician María Elena Ríos, who also claimed he was a "sexual predator." Tenoch says her accusation is "false and completely unsubstantiated."

In a statement shared on social media, Tenoch says he could not let Ríos' allegation "go unchallenged any longer" ... he says they dated about a year ago for several months and their relationship was "entirely consensual at all times."

Tenoch says when he was dating Ríos they were in a "loving, warm and mutually supportive relationship" ... but when they split, he claims she "began to misrepresent our interactions both privately and in front of groups of mutual friends."

The actor says he's been working with a legal team to protect his reputation and adds ... "Although I am by no means perfect, I know that these allegations are simply untrue. And while I will always work to improve myself, I need to contest claims that are both false and offensive."

Leonardo DiCaprio is cooling off after spending time with a bunch of hot models ... having a blast with some of his family as his vacation continues on the Amalfi Coast.

The actor took a big leap into the water Sunday off a beautiful yacht ... soaking in some rays with his niece Normandie -- as well as his pops George and stepmother Peggy.

The gang's sleeping on the boat -- but took some time off for a sweet excursion, checking out the Blue Grotto sea caves in Capri.

As we reported, Leo went from the Cannes Film Festival to relaxation mode at the end of last month, lounging on the big boat with some of his buddies, including Tobey Maguire.

Of course, we've seen Leo with a couple of babes during his time abroad -- 22-year-old model Meghan Roche spent a night on the yacht with him, although there wasn't a lot of PDA going on ... at least, as far as we could see.

He also recently grabbed dinner with Gigi Hadid, his dad and stepmom, and a bunch of other folks at a big dinner party in London ... and followed it up the next night by arriving at the same hotel in separate cars -- with Gigi ridin' with George and Peggy!