Movies

President Trump was shooting for the moon when he demanded NASA put a man on Mars in the next 3 years, according to Ron Howard ... Hollywood's unofficial Mars expert.

The legendary producer and director was at LAX -- and since he made the Nat Geo series "Mars" ... we asked him about Trump's mission statement. He's all about getting to the red planet, and believes humans will be there.

In fact, he has a target date in mind ... it's just way different from Trump's.

Zac Efron taking on the role of Ted Bundy is such dead-on casting, it could be the role Zac is ultimately remembered for ... according to the man who defended the infamous serial killer.

John Henry Browne, Bundy's lawyer in the '70s and early '80s, tells TMZ ... Efron's background as a charming heartthrob gives him an edge tapping into Bundy's persona -- the smooth talking, good looking guy who seduced young women.

That's the easy part, though. Browne says Zac's real challenge will be capturing the Bundy's "essence of evilness." He says if Zac can nail that, it would be such a departure ... it could make his career.

The lawyer says he had meetings about turning his book, "The Devil's Defender," into a TV series ... and Efron's name also came up then.

As for which Bundy flick will be better -- Efron's "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile" or Mark Harmon's 1986 TV movie, "The Deliberate Stranger" -- Browne's picking Zac.

But only because Harmon's script kinda sucked.

Guy Ritchie tried -- and failed -- to cast Conor McGregor in his new 'King Arthur' flick ... all because the UFC star said he didn't want to distract himself from fighting.

Ritchie admitted going after McGregor to The Irish Sun -- saying he thinks McGregor's got what it takes to be the next Jason Statham ... who starred in Guy's smash hits, "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels."

"Like Jason Statham, he’s an athlete, completely on his game all the time. Look where he’s at now. And you can see that similarity in Conor, he could clean up in Hollywood."

“We even went after him for a part in the movie but he wasn’t having any of it. Was training for a fight at the time, couldn’t take his attention away from that."

The fight was UFC 194 ... when Conor knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds.

Conor has been getting movie offers for years -- but previously told us he'll only take a role if the money's right.

Rosario Dawson's cousin died after the actress found her unconscious last week ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us Rosario walked downstairs in her Venice home last Thursday and found 26-year-old Vaneza Ines Vasquez lying unresponsive. Paramedics rushed to the scene and transported Vaneza, but ultimately they could not resuscitate her.

We're told Vaneza -- who worked for Rosario -- had recently been suffering migraines and also had hypertension. We're told early autopsy results point to her dying from natural causes.

Toxicology results are still pending, but our sources tell us Vaneza had no history of substance abuse.

Mo'Nique won't be issuing apologies to Lee Daniels, Oprah or Tyler Perry and she's not afraid of any further backlash she gets for simply saying what's true ... in her eyes.

Mo' and her husband, Sidney Hicks, told us they believe Oprah and Tyler participated in Lee's campaign to label her "difficult to work with" on sets. She wanted to make it clear ... even though she was doing a comedy stand-up special, she was dead serious about the allegations.

As she told the Apollo Theater, the black Hollywood power trio ... "Can suck my d***, if I had one!"

Mo'Nique insists she's standing on the truth .... just like one of her heroes, Richard Pryor would.

Terrence Howard's not hating on Mo'Nique for going nuclear on his "Empire" boss Lee Daniels ... or Oprah and Tyler Perry, for that matter.

We got Terrence outside ABC studios Monday in NYC and tried to clue him in on Mo'Nique blasting the trio during her stand-up special Saturday night at the Apollo Theater.

Terrence didn't need a refresher ... he's FULLY aware of the beef, and said he's a fan of anyone who speaks their mind.

He's not sweating Mo'Nique's savage takedown -- though Daniels might feel differently -- and it sounds like he's not down with any alleged blackballing of her either.

Oscar winner Mo'Nique went NUCLEAR on Lee Daniels, Tyler Perry and Oprah ... blaming the trio for her getting shut out of Hollywood -- in not so many words.

The comedian did a standup special Saturday night at the Apollo Theater, and went off about getting blackballed. She insisted that's the wrong term to use. She prefers ... "whiteballed" ... "by some n*****s who had no balls."

Mo'Nique had a falling out with "Precious" director Lee Daniels after she won the Oscar for that movie, and she's made the 'blackballed in Hollywood' claim before. But this is the first time she's lumped in Oprah and Tyler.

She's also never said it this viciously -- "Y'all can suck my d***, if I had one!"

Brad Grey, one of Hollywood's most prolific producers and former Paramount Studios chief, died Sunday night from cancer.

Grey died at his home in Holmby Hills ... surrounded by family. He had stepped down from his post as Chairman/CEO of Paramount a few months ago. He'd held the role for 12 years.

Grey co-founded Plan B Entertainment with Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. He's been executive producer of several landmark TV shows and films ... like "The Sopranos," "The Larry Sanders Show," "The Departed," "Happy Gilmore" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

He was 59.

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Djimon Hounsou says David Beckham was fun to be around on the set of "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword," but if he wants acting help ... he'll have to look elsewhere.

We got the actor at LAX and asked him what it was like working with Becks ... no surprise here -- he says it was a lot of fun and he's a cool dude. Djimon also assures us the soccer star looks great in the movie.

But when our guy asks if he'd help Beckham hone his acting skills in wake of some online criticism, his enthusiasm meter goes way down ... and for good reason.

Michelle Rodriguez is gunning for a female revolution in action movies, and is looking for men who are comfortable enough in their sexuality to share the screen with badass chicks.

We got the "Fate of the Furious" star out in Beverly Hills ... she tells us she's not looking to star in her own action franchise, because her new passion is to run the show behind the scenes.

First order of business -- grow more female action stars.

Michelle is adamant she does NOT want an all-female cast -- à la "Ocean's Eight -- she wants men and women working together to kick ass.

Ryan Gosling and Elvis Presley's famous rides are about to be up for grabs -- meaning this is probably your one and only shot to plant your ass where theirs were ... if ya got the dough.

Auction houses Dan Kruse Classics and Flat 12 Gallery are unloading a hangar full of cars and motorcycles used in movies like Elvis' "Tickle Me," Ryan's "Drive" and Nic Cage's "Ghost Rider." They also have vehicles from shows like "Sons of Anarchy," "Entourage" and "Mad Men."

According to our auction sources the '65 Jeep Tuxedo Edition Elvis drove is expected to go for $30k to $40k. Bids on the '73 Chevelle from "Drive" should hit $20k to $30k ... and at least $15k for Cage's 1999 Buell motorbike.

All told, they're looking for the total auction haul to top $145k.

Forget round tables ... Charlie Hunnam says he drew inspiration for his role in 'King Arthur' from a different shape -- an Octagon cage.

Milla Jovovich's giving her 9-year-old daughter a sweet incentive to read ... whether she jumps on that deal is another story.

We got Milla at LAX Wednesday and wondered if her daughter, Ever Gabo -- who starred in "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" and recently was featured in Vogue Italia -- gets to spend her own hard-earned dough.

DC Young Fly's got a deadbeat agent who's done nothing for his career, but keeps cashing in on his success ... at least according to the rapper himself.

The "Wild 'n Out" star claims in a new suit ... Archive Entertainment's Bobby Patterson suckered him into signing a contract in December 2013 with promises of record deals, movie and TV roles, and his own line of merchandise. Young Fly agreed to pay him a huge cut too -- up to 65% of his record sales plus another 35% of his merch or endorsement deals.

Problem is -- DC says Patterson's done jack squat to help him out, and hasn't covered any of his expenses to launch his music career like he agreed to. He also bailed on the merch.

Young Fly also claims he landed all of his film and TV roles on his own since signing on with Patterson ... but still forks over big bucks for nothing.

NFL lineman Michael Oher -- the inspiration for the movie "The Blind Side" -- turned himself in to police on Monday to be booked for allegedly roughing up an Uber driver. He looked pissed.

"Moonlight" star Jharrel Jerome says he and his costar, Ashton Sanders, didn't smooch after their Best Kiss win at the MTV Movie Awards because he's not the character he portrayed.

We got Jharrel at LAX Monday on the heels of his big win where he told us his victory proves things are headed in the right direction when it comes to LGBT issues since they won by majority vote.

BTW ... lots of actor have passed on recreating their movie kiss. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal won the same award in 2006 for "Brokeback Mountain," but Gyllenhaal accepted solo. And Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson won the award 4 years in a row for the "Twilight" flicks and never smooched.

Jharrel says the movie kiss was so powerful ... it should stand alone.