Movies

Everyone knows Matthew McConaughey likes to go topless -- and now he wants female extras on his new movie to do the same!

A source on the set of Matt's new film, "Surfer Dude," tells TMZ that during a recent pool party scene that featured a bunch of female extras in bathing suits, McConaughey, who is also a producer on the movie, told the ladies if they took their tops off they would get more money for their time. We're told many of the women agreed. Welcome to Hollywood, girls!

With the female extras in all their bare-bosomed glory, Matt then requested girl-on-girl action for the scene. Sources tell TMZ that his request was not met with any complaints and only one extra left the set. Maybe this film will be good after all!

A rep for McConaughey told TMZ, "You should check with the Screen Actors Guild as they determine the pay scale and not Matthew McConaughey."

The southern belle was ranked #18 on the Maxim Hot 100 of 2007 list. The titillating starlet, seen here at a press conference in Seoul for "Transformers," is now 21 -- and engaged to former "Beverly Hills, 90210" hunk Brian Austin Green, 33. For now.

Weintraub was talking to reporters about his upcoming film version of the classic "Tarzan," saying that it will be, in his words, "Big. Bigger than you can imagine." The pic, to be directed by "Pan's Labyrinth's" Guillermo Del Toro, had Weintraub boasting, "My snake can reach from one side of Hollywood Boulevard to the other. It's that big."

Professional blonde Jessica Simpson is set to star in the movie "Major Movie Star," playing the role of a Marine Corps enlistee. Sounds like it should be called "Private Benjamin 2."

According to Variety, the pic is about a movie star who decides to enlist in the Marines to prove to movie producers that she is the right choice for an upcoming military-themed film. Simpson's character quickly realizes she has made a huge mistake, but decides to power through -- for the good of her country. Hilarity, no doubt, ensues.

A Canadian author is suing Universal Pictures and director Judd Apatow (who directed "40-Year-Old Virgin"), alleging that the story for the hit movie "Knocked Up" was taken directly from her book of the same name.

Rebecca Eckler claims that she shopped around her 2004 book to be made into a movie. In the middle of the process, she learned of the Apatow project. The script that was making the rounds, she alleges, had a picture of a martini glass with a pacifier around the stem -- the same as on the cover of her book.

Eckler, who told her tale in this month's Maclean's magazine, cites other similarities -- including the fact that the Katherine Heigl character is an up-and-coming television reporter, and the main character in Eckler's book is an up-and-coming newspaper reporter. She also says that the movie and book have a secondary female character in common -- the person that both main characters go to for advice -- and that both of the secondary characters have screaming children.

The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in January, alleging copyright infringement and seeking unspecified damages.

Judd Apatow, through his reps, released this statement: "The book 'Knocked Up' is very different than the film 'Knocked Up.' The book is about a woman who gets pregnant by the fiance that she loves on the night of her engagement party. The film is a very different story; the film is about a one-night stand between a pot smoking slacker and an ambitious young woman that leads to a pregnancy and their attempts to get to know each other. Anyone who reads the book and sees the movie will instantly know that they are two very different stories about a common experience."

Universal Pictures had no comment.

More than 20 years after they put their first hurtin' on the evil Mumm-Ra and his band of bad guys, Lion-O, Panthra, Snarf and the rest of the Thundercats are finally going to kick some ass on the big screen!!! Thundercats, hooooo!!!

Warner Bros. has put plans in motion to turn the cult '80s cartoon classic into a live-action project.

The upcoming adventure flick, set to be produced by Paula Weinstein, Dick Robertson and Lew Korman -- falls on the heels of plans to bring "He-Man" to theaters as well. By the power of Greyskull, what is going on here?

No timetable has been set yet for a release.

The "ET" critic and the rest of the press corps had to be wanded by security before making their way into the theater. And get this -- camera phones were banned! Were they expecting Maltin to bootleg 15-second clips of the movie on Limewire?

Alas, Maltin's credentials checked out and he joined the rest of the crowd to watch George Clooney and Brat Pitt cash a paycheck.

Matthew McConaughey likes to play safe ... in the sun!

While the sun-worshipping, shirt-deprived hunk likes to keep his sweaty, hairless golden abs and pecs out of harm's way by using suntan lotion, TMZ has learned that Matt recently had producers of his new film, "Surfer Dude," purchase over 50 bottles of HIC 2X sunblock. Anybody wanna rub some on his back? Or front?! Place the lotion on his basket!

The 37-year-old muscled bachelor knows it doesn't matter how hot your body is ... if your face looks like a brown Gucci leather handbag. Right, Donatella?

Perry Caravello, the one-time "star" of a practical joke flick, filed suit today in Los Angeles County Superior Court claiming, among other things, the three funnymen owe him $10.5 million.

For several years, Caravello was duped into believing he was going to play the lead role in the faux action flick "Windy City Heat." Every actor and member of the crew was in on the joke -- except Caravello. The final product, er, joke, aired in 2003 on Comedy Central.

In his suit, Caravello claims the defendants "falsely and fraudulently" represented the project, and promised him, among other things, that he "would be paid 10 million dollars if he placed his penis in a mousetrap." Caravello says he "was severely injured when the trap literally went on his manhood." Ouch. To add insult to injury, Caravello says he's suffered "humiliation and emotional trauma" because the video has circulated the Internet. Talk about viral.

Caravello is suing for the $10.5 million that he says he is owed, plus damages and medical expenses.

Of course, Miss Bobby Trendy had to have her picture taken with the actor as well. In fact, there hasn't been a pic from the movie without the bejeweled diva's made-up mug in it! Smile, girl!

So what do you think?

Charlie Sheen says he's not backing away from narrating a provocative 9/11 documentary that charges that the World Trade Center was exploded from within, refuting a Page Six report earlier this week that he'd had second thoughts about lending his voice to the movie.

In a statement released through his publicist, Stan Rosenfield, Sheen says that his "views and convictions regarding the events of 9/11" remain the same, namely that "the truth [about 9/11] needs to be exposed," as he told "EXTRA" recently. Sheen continues in the statement, "The suspicious fact that certain relevant testimonies were not included in the Keen [sic] Commission's final report, discredits the majority of their findings." Rosie O'Donnell, another proponent of certain 9/11 conspiracy theories, had promoted "Loose Change" on "The View" and on her blog.

Sheen goes on to suggest that another panel be assembled, but this time "not some tepid rehash of Bush-serving lap-dogs cherry picking evidence to support erroneous and fictional 'Magic Bullet' explanations."

In the spirit of helping Lindsay Lohan and her rehabilitation, we have been asked by Lindsay to comply with her wishes to continue working on "Poor Things." We are trying to rearrange the shooting schedule to facilitate her working at the end of the shoot to coincide with the completion of her rehabilitation. We wish her love and the blending of mind, body and spirit.

Shirley MacLaine
Rob Hickman
Producers

A source connected to Lindsay Lohan's next movie says the actress' rehab will not get in the way of her performance, but TMZ knows differently.

The production source told TMZ that arrangements had been made to shuttle Lohan back and forth from Promises in Malibu while Lindsay shoots the new Shirley MacLaine movie, "Poor Things," right down the road in Santa Monica. Lohan was scheduled to be on the set next week.

Lindsay Lohan's weekend antics may just have cost her a plum role with Shirley MacLaine, TMZ has learned.

According to MacLaine's rep, there's actually "no deal" in place for Lohan to act in "Poor Things," produced by and starring MacLaine. The rep added that casting isn't set, and shooting wasn't scheduled to start for a couple weeks.

That's not what we were hearing just this weekend, when several very reliable sources (and the trades) were saying that Lohan was set to begin shooting on Thursday for three weeks, and Still Rolling Productions -- the company producing "Poor Things" -- said that Lohan's DUI arrest wouldn't affect shooting.

While promoting "Oceans 13" in Cannes with co-star Matt Damon, the two started to rip on Brangelina, saying "Brad has had it tough" between being "hobbled with children" and "that horrible, ugly wife." Clooney went on to say that Brad should just kill himself to get out of the horrendous situation.

Of course, Pitt also stars in the upcoming caper, and the gang has a history of ragging on each other and playing practical jokes -- TMZ's favorite? Clooney allegedly putting a "Small Penis on Board" bumper sticker on Pitt's car. That's what friends are for.