Movies

James Cameron stole the life story of a Florida man who worked in the yacht industry and used it for the lead character of "Titanic" ... according to his lawsuit.

Stephen Cummings claims he's the inspiration for Jack Dawson -- played by Leo DiCaprio. According to the docs, Cameron learned about Cummings through word of mouth about events that took place in Brevard County in 1988 and '89.

If this seems unlikely ... wait. The ex-"yacht master" also says the depiction of the Titanic sinking was NOT based on history, but instead on stories he told friends about 2 of his relatives who were aboard the real doomed ship. You probably guessed -- the wife survived, the husband did not.

Of course, 1,517 souls were lost that fateful 1912 night ... so we'd imagine there are more than a few such stories.

The man behind the biggest action star on the planet is helping to launch one of the baddest fighters in the UFC into Hollywood superstardom ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The agent is Brad Slater -- who reps huge stars like The Rock and Michael Strahan and signed LeBron James to WME back in 2014.

The fighter is Joanna Jedrzejczyk -- the reigning, undefeated women's strawweight champion.

Joanna tells TMZ Sports she has big Hollywood dreams and believes Slater is the guy who can make them come true.

And we know just the person looking for badass female action stars ... right Michelle Rodriguez?!

Bill Pullman waited 21 long years to do it, but he finally got the right stage ... and he delivered.

The actor was the commencement speaker at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC Saturday, and gave the graduates a blast of nostalgia by opening with a line from of his famous "Independence Day" speech ... with a slight revision.

Bill made a political wisecrack, too -- but it may have been an accident -- when he explained the glory of playing President Whitmore. Good stuff.

As for why Pullman chose to speak at WWC ... his sons are alumni.

Harrison Ford's out and Alden Ehrenreich is officially tapping into 'Star Wars' ... and we got the shots of him reporting for Han Solo duty.

TMZ's obtained exclusive pics from the set of the upcoming, and still untitled, anthology film about everyone's fave interstellar smuggler in his younger years. The awesome photos show Alden in action, and plenty of new vehicles and set pieces. Only question -- where's Chewbacca?!

Details of the film have been kept under wraps, but at least we now know Ehrenreich can rock the classic Harrison hairstyle.

Michael Rooker name dropped Mary Poppins in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" and little did he know it would start a revolution.

We got Yondu out at LAX Thursday and asked him about the adoring love he's getting since blurting the fictional character in the insanely popular super hero action flick.

For the uninitiated ... Michael in 'GOTG2' uses his signature arrow to float down, prompting him to say, "I'm Mary Poppins, y'all!!" That line's taken off in the Disney-sphere, to the point fans have started a petition to get Michael a cameo in the upcoming 'Poppins' sequel.

Gotta hand it to Michael for running with the fascination cause he even hunted down Poppins at Disneyland and snapped a pic with her.

But at this point, it's up to the Disney honchos. Y'all listening?!

Turns out the Yellow Power Ranger, Becky G, is way more dangerous in street clothes ... when her curves are on full display.

The "Power Rangers" star was at Upfronts in NYC, rocking a skintight dress that's likely to have you suddenly jonesin' for an orange Fanta.

Becky, who played Trini the Yellow Ranger in the new reboot flick, makes a strong case for a wardrobe change if they decide to make a sequel. Or even better ... a solo spin-off movie.

We're just sayin'!

#HappyHumpDay!

Blockbuster director Zack Snyder has an idea for Hollywood to avoid another film getting hacked -- like the new 'Pirates of the Caribbean' flick -- but it's gonna require embracing LOW tech.

We got Zack -- who's currently working on "Justice League" -- at LAX Tuesday right after hackers said they'd release 'Pirates 5' on the Internet if Disney didn't pay an enormous ransom ... in Bitcoin, no less.

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.

Story developing ...

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.