Movies

While Heath Ledger is stepping into Jack Nicholson's clown shoes to play The Joker in the upcoming Batman sequel, "The Dark Knight," TMZ would like to throw in a few names to be considered for any future incarnations.

Kelly Osbourne, the late Leona Helmsley (through the magic of CGI) and former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss all have the chops for the part!

The boutique film studio, partly owned by billionaire "Dancing with the Stars" rejectee Mark Cuban, has smacked a 152 year-old children's apparel company with a lawsuit, demanding they stop selling baby duds emblazoned with one of the most famous movie lines of the 1980s.

"Grosse Pointe Blank" funnyman Dan Aykroyd and still-hot-as-ever wife Donna Dixon dined at the Waverly Inn in Manhattan last night with several of his Canadian relatives in tow. Good food, eh?

After posing for pics with the fam, Dan hammed it for cameras by grabbing his daughter and doing a quick dance pose on the sidewalk.

TMZ has confirmed "Risky Business" star Rebecca De Mornay was arrested by Beverly Hills PD the night before Halloween.

Cops tell TMZ they pulled over the 48-year-old actress around 10:30 PM for an unknown traffic violation on Sunset Blvd. During the stop, cops say they "immediately detected an odor of alcoholic beverages." They say De Mornay was asked to perform several field sobriety tests, which she failed.

Police say her blood alcohol level was .09. She was cited and released from the Beverly Hills police station just before 1:00 AM.

Despite her nude pictures being passed around the Internet, teen queen Vanessa Hudgens will back for the third installment of the Disney powerhouse, "High School Musical."

Vanessa is "locked in" for the film, a source tells Us Weekly, and Hudgens will receive a "substantial raise." That's good news when you consider that earlier this month, Vanessa had to shoot down rumors that she was canned.

That raise could come handy -- Vanessa is in the middle of a court battle with her former attorney, who says she owes $150,000. Vanessa countered this week that their deal shouldn't hold up in court, since she was only 16. She's hoping to get the class case dismissed.

Cross-dressing former basketball star Dennis Rodman wants to be a coach in the NBA -- excuse us, make that the WNBA.

The prolific rebounder with a penchant for pumps tells TMZ he is dead serious: "Any of my teammates can tell you that my knowledge of the game is second to none."

Are WNBA coaches allowed to wear wedding dresses on the sidelines?

The wacktress/chicken dancer extraordinare was outside of Mr. Chow and Opera last night, promoting the crap out of her new flick, "Southland Tales."

"High School Musical" cutie Vanessa Hudgens is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit filed in September, alleging she owes her attorney $150,000. Hudgens says she was only 16 when she signed the deal, so it doesn't hold up!

In his suit, attorney Brian Schall claims he helped Hudgens earn more than $5 million by advancing her funds for her songwriting and recording career. The suit says that Vanessa "has paid some, but not all, of the money owed ..."

Karen will reprise her role in the fourth installment of the action franchise, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

One of the scientists on Johnny 5's side, Fisher Stevens, ate at Mr. Chow on Friday night. "Short Circuit" cast member is alive!

Timid Fisher kept his cool after a TMZ photog told him that "Repo Man" was one of his favorite movies -- even though Stevens wasn't in the film -- and proceeded to get directions to an after-dinner soiree.

Owen "reveals" -- as part of the MySpace series, Artist on Artist -- that he wasn't looking forward to going to India and getting all the shots that are required for such a venture, but he "admits" to skipping the malaria pills. Big reveal!

The A-listers exited the restaurant, to find that the valet had brought the wrong white SUV for them. It appeared that Michael didn't know if the boxy ride was his or not, until the valet said it was a Land Rover ... Douglas owns a sleek Lexus.

The two went back inside the restaurant and our photog waited for the right car to pull up -- it never did. Douglas and Zeta-Jones ended up sneaking out the back -- but TMZ ran back there just in time to get a quick wave from Catherine as they took off!

TMZ has obtained a suit filed by Denise Halicki, the daughter of Toby Halicki, Hollywood's so-called "Car Crash King," against Carroll Shelby, the legendary auto designer and driver. Halicki claims that a Mustang that Shelby helped design and market with Ford, based on the 2000 movie, is a full knock-off of "Eleanor," the car from the original "Gone," made by her father in 1974.

Halicki alleges that Shelby and his companies knew that they "did not have the right to copy or clone Eleanor" from the original movie. What's more, she says that Shelby's marketing and selling of a version of the Mustang is a "blatant theft" of Halicki's creation.