Movies

George Clooney is going nuclear on The Daily Mail, claiming it flat out made up a story about his fiancee's mother objecting to their wedding on religious grounds.

George is especially pissed off about the line in the story that Amal's mom told half of Beruit that if she married someone outside the Druze religion she could be excommunicated. The story also referenced reports that such brides sometimes end up dead.

Clooney starts off by saying Amal's mom is NOT Druze. And more fundamentally, she's not against the marriage.

Clooney didn't stop with the specific story. He went on to accuse The Daily Mail of habitually lying, saying "If they fabricate stories of Amal being pregnant, or that the marriage will take place on the set of Downton Abbey, or that I'm running for office, or any number of idiotic stories that they sit at their computers and invent, I don't care."

He clearly cares a little.

Michelle Rodriguez is treating herself to an early birthday present -- Zac Efron -- the two were all over each other Monday during a night of hard partying in Sardinia.

Michelle -- who turns 36 Saturday -- and the 26-year-old "Neighbors" star hit up a club in Porto Cervo off the coast of Italy ... and if there was any doubt they're banging, well ...

The photog says Michelle was drinking and smoking and had to steady herself at times ... grabbing onto an overhead pole while Zac slobbered all over her.

Ashley Greene's ex landlord finally unloaded the Sunset Strip apartment the 'Twilight' star set on fire last year -- for $1.1 million -- but Ashley could still be on the hook, financially, for the blaze.

The 2-bedroom, 1,800 square-foot Hollywood apartment had to be completely remodeled -- the photos show the transformation -- after it was burnt to a crisp back in March 2013. Our real estate sources tell us the repairs cost $303,000 ... and the building's HOA insurance ended up footing the bill.

As we previously reported -- Ashley, her brother, a friend and her 2 dogs were inside the apartment when a lit candle started the fire. One of the dogs died.

By law, the new owners had to be told about the fire and the dog.

Ashley's still dealing with lawsuits from her old landlord, the building owner, several neighbors, and even the doorman -- and the HOA is still trying to get her insurance to reimburse the $303K.

What's the greater miracle ... an astronaut getting pregnant after spending a year alone in space ("Extant" ... coming soon!) ... or Halle Berry's nipple somehow popping out of a dress that seemingly appears nip-slip proof?

Jennifer Lawrence showed up Monday to the Christian Dior show for Fashion Week in Paris and while her dress photographed well from the front ... we prefer the view from the side.

The "Hunger Games" star is hot from all angles.

Leonardo DiCaprio can't handle the truth ... he's really starting to look like Jack Nicholson.

The 39-year-old actor resurfaced in Malibu with girlfriend Toni Garrn Sunday ... bearing a striking resemblance to his co-star from "The Departed."

All work and no play makes Leo a dull boy.

The bad blood still runs deep ... Ex-N.W.A manager Jerry Heller tells TMZ it was a slap in the face to Eazy-E to shut his son out of the audition process for the upcoming movie.

Jerry was leaving Craig's restaurant in West Hollywood Saturday night ... when he acknowledged the bad blood between Dre and Eazy and suggested it might have something to do with the fact that Lil Eazy was not even allowed to audition to play his dad in the flick.

Anne pimped some of her favorite websites -- girleffect.org. feedingamerica.org and worldofchildren.org -- and Shulman wished everyone a happy 4th. They even gave Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone credit.

Richard Pryor's widow says Nick Cannon has NOT been cast to play the legendary comedian in a movie ... but she knows who SHOULD get the role -- Terrence Howard.

Jennifer Pryor -- who has some say over the decision -- tells TMZ Cannon jumped the gun when he hinted to us he had the part ... because the film's director, Lee Daniels, is still auditioning.

Pryor says it's an easy call ... she says Howard is perfect ... an intense, brilliant actor who has the chops for acting and comedy. But she'd insist on him losing some lbs.

According to Jennifer ... several other big names are also being tossed around -- Marlon Wayans, Jay Pharoah and Mike Epps.

Richard's kids are lobbying for Wayans. They've never seen eye-to-eye with Jennifer -- who was married to Richard twice. They've accused her of turning the film into a vanity project.

Jennifer says she loved Pryor immensely ... and if his kids can't understand that ... tough.

Fun fact: Harrison Ford's trainer is the guy who invented Body by Jake ... and he tells us Han Solo is progressing faster than the Millennium Falcon in a Kessel run.

Jake Steinfeld was hanging out in Beverly Hills when he gave us the 411 on Ford's injury.

Turns out Jake and Harrison have been working together since the "Indiana Jones" days ... and they still keep in close contact.

James Franco is going after a guy who claims the actor stole his idea for the actor's new movie, claiming the idea for the flick was hatched in his brain alone.

Short story ... Franco has a new movie -- "Bukowski" -- which is about to be released ... it's about Charles Bukowski, a famous fiction writer who died the year O.J. killed Nicole.

Enter Cyril Humphris, who owns the rights to Bukowski's autobiography. Cyril says back in 2009 he gave Franco the right to create a screenplay based on the book, but the option expired a year later.

Cyril says Franco's movie is clearly based on the autobiography ... in other words, he ripped Cyril off.

But Franco says in new legal docs Cyril is full of crap. Franco says he was inspired by Bukowski's writings and independently came up with the idea for the movie.

We've just seen the salaries for two young actors in Hollywood -- one 6 and one 13 -- and you better grab a cold one ... 'cuz it might ruin your 4th of July barbecue.

One of the actors is Nia Long's teenage son ... Massai Zhivago Dorsey Jr. ... who starred alongside his famous mom in "The Single Mom's Club."

According to his contract, 13-year-old Massai got paid the Screen Actor's Guild standard weekly rate of $2,921 plus 10%.

It gets even better for 6-year-old Bobbi Strayed Lindstrom -- whose mom is best-selling author, Cheryl Strayed. Bobbi was hired for the upcoming movie, "Wild," and her contract pays a daily rate of $859 -- or almost $4,300 a week!

1:33 PM PT -- TMZ just obtained a copy of the indictment which shows the film crew had asked for permission to shoot on the train tracks ... and had been denied -- resulting in the criminal trespass charge.

The director of a movie about Gregg Allman was just indicted in the tragic death of a crew member who was hit by a train during production.

The Wayne County D.A. in Georgia indicted director Randall Miller -- along with his wife and the film's executive producer -- with involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass for Sarah Elizabeth Jones' death back in February.

27-year-old Jones was helping set up a shot on railroad tracks for the movie "Midnight Rider" ... when a speeding train smashed into the set, killing Jones. Six other people were hurt.

Nick Cannon seems to think he has the role of Richard Pryor locked up for a new biopic ... but Pryor's kids tell us they don't think he cuts it ... but they say they know who can.

Richard Pryor Jr. and Rain Pryor say the man for the role is Marlon Wayans. They believe Wayans understands their dad's psyche and can connect with the character in a compelling way.

As for Nick ... they just don't think he has the acting chops to pull off the role. They say "Drumline" doesn't give him the cred to play Richard.

But the kids have a more fundamental problem with the biopic ... they tell us it dishonors their dad because it's become a vanity project for their stepmom, Jennifer Pryor, who they believe will skew Richard's life to make her look good.

The kids are also clearly pissed they've been cut out of the project.

This may explain why Nick was kind of coy on TMZ Live Wednesday ... reluctant to acknowledge if director Lee Daniels has tapped him for the role. It seems he wants his participation to fly under the radar, so the family doesn't kick up dust and scare the studio.

Nick Cannon did everything but say the words … he's playing Richard Pryor in an upcoming biopic.

Cannon was a guest on "TMZ Live" Wednesday, where he said the movie was not yet in production and he didn't want to jinx it.

Cannon said he's been meeting with director Lee Daniels about the project and has been doing all sorts of things to get ready ... like growing out his hair and taking up smoking. Nick even posted a photo on Instagram ... a side-by-side of him and Pryor (see below).

He wouldn't directly say he's got the part ... so we asked him to do a hat trick that would serve as confirmation.

We take that as a yes.

All of Robin Thicke's on-stage begging and pleading hasn't worked ... because he says he hasn't seen his estranged wife Paula Patton in FOUR MONTHS!!!

Thicke -- who's made very public apologies at the Billboard Music Awards and the BET Awards -- was on "EBRO in the Morning" Tuesday on HOT 97 ... when he said he's been persona non grata with Paula for months now.

But sources connected to the ex-couple tell us that's not entirely true -- he and Paula have literally seen each other several times ... particularly when they hand off their son for visits.

So, maybe Robin's just looking for more sympathy -- but at the same time he admits Paula hasn't even heard most of his new album (which bears her name).

Sounds like it's time for a new approach.