Movies

Shia LaBeouf has a dangerous addiction to the bottle ... and Brad Pitt may be the cure.

The two are set to co-star in the upcoming World War II blockbuster "Fury" and Shia could use all the help he can get to handle the stress from his first worldwide media blitz since "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" in 2011.

We're told he's taking his outpatient alcohol treatment program seriously. But there's something more ... the thought of embarrassing Brad is especially sobering for him.

His recent run of drunken debauchery is well-documented ... picking a fight outside a strip club, banned from an L.A. restaurant for pissing on it, and booted from a Broadway show.

The movie is a good change of pace ... getting tanked in a good way. It does seem ... Shia is serious about diving back into the acting game.

Richard Pyror was dying and mentally incapacitated when his wife duped him into signing over the rights to his name ... so claims Pryor's son, who's trying to shut down a movie about his dad.

Richard Pryor Jr. has fired off a cease and desist letter to Jennifer Lee Pryor, demanding she stop production of the Lee Daniels directed biopic immediately.

TMZ obtained a copy of the letter in which Richard Jr. accuses Jennifer of using "illegal, fraudulent" activity to get the rights. The document isn't more specific about the alleged fraud.

Richard Jr.'s lawyer tells us her client believes Pryor was in poor mental and physical health when he signed over the rights in 2005. Pryor died in December of that year.

Jennifer has been battling Pryor's children over the film -- including who should play Pryor.

Richard Jr. is threatening legal action if the movie goes forward. We reached out to Jennifer for comment ... so far no word back.

Disney star Bella Thorne stands to make a small fortune from her new horror flick, "Amityville" ... but there's one perk even Bella couldn't get from producers -- fresh underwear.

The 16-year-old "Shake It Up" star is shooting the latest reincarnation of "The Amityville Horror" ... and according to her contract -- obtained by TMZ -- she's raking in $3,276 a week.

The contract obviously says producers will provide all costumes for the flick, with one exception -- undergarments ... an essential in a horror film.

But here's the real poop ... Bella gets a series of $25K bonuses if the movie does well -- up to $150K if it passes the $100M mark.

And if there's a sequel -- with 12 Amityville flicks, the odds are good -- she'll collect an additional $125K ... and bonuses of up to $300K.

Love is in the air, or maybe that's just the backwoods -- but Herbert “Cowboy” Coward from “Hillbilly Blood” is about to hook up with Mema from "Hollywood Hillbillies."

And Mema's got a real charmer on her hands. You can tell from HC's famous scene in the movie “Deliverance.” Yes ... THAT scene!

Legendary actor James Garner -- star of "The Rockford Files" and "The Notebook" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us an ambulance was dispatched to the actor's home in Los Angeles around 8PM Saturday evening ... and he was found dead when they arrived on scene.

James died of natural causes.

Garner was one of the first actors to amass success in both television and film ... and he starred in a long list of classic films -- as well as a co-starring role in the '94 big screen version of "Maverick" starring Mel Gibson. Garner was the original Bret Maverick from 1957-1960 ... as well as the same character in a short lived '80s remake.

Garner, who was 86 years old, also played the older version of Ryan Gosling's character in "The Notebook."

"The Purge: Anarchy" actor featured on billboards across the country says producers hoodwinked him ... because no one said he'd be the face of their ad campaign -- and now he wants to be paid.

Emmanuel Howell says he worked 5 days on the shoot as an extra and made less than a grand. He expected to only be in the background of shots ... but months later, he started seeing his mug pop up on billboards.

Howell tells us he reached out to production asking for more dough -- but they said to kick rocks ... because he should be happy for the honor. Instead, they offered him free digital movie posters.

Howell says he contacted multiple lawyers because it felt like a slap in the face ... but so far, they've all said he doesn't have a case.

The billboard star explained his entire situation to our photog ... and you can't help but feel bad.

Welcome to Hollywood!

1:00 PM PST: Skye reportedly had been suffering from seizures and on Saturday morning her boyfriend came home and found her sitting up in bed in her parents converted garage. The family believes she had a seizure and choked to death.

Skye McCole Bartusiak -- who played Mel Gibson's daughter in the 2000 hit movie, "The Patriot" -- is dead.

We do not know the cause of death. We're told Skye died at her home in Texas Saturday.

Skye was only 7 when she starred opposite Mel in the historical war film.

Skye starred in only one other movie in recent years -- "Sick Boy." Other than that she had roles in various short films.

Sources say Skye struggled after doing "The Patriot" ... trying to establish a foot print in Hollywood, but it was largely a frustrating and unsuccessful experience.

We’re told police found her dead in the garage apartment behind her home around 9AM Saturday. Right now, no foul play is suspected and it’s being treated as a natural causes death -- pending autopsy results.

Law enforcement sources tells us ... there are no "obvious signs" she took her own life ... however, our sources say toxicology reports could change their operating theory.

Alex Pettyfer pissed off a group of jacked up dudes working out at Muscle Beach in Venice ... and we got video of their heated exchange.

Pettyfer was passing the famous weight lifting hangout when he asked the guys working out how much they lift. For some reason, a few of the lifters took offense ... and both sides started arguing.

In the video, one of the lifters accuses Alex of talking "s**t" ... which the "Magic Mike" star adamantly denies.

The musclehead who mainly argued with Alex tell us ... it started when the actor asked him how much he lifted. The dude lashed back, "How much do you make?" For some reason that triggered the argument.

Eventually Alex left after the two sides worked things out.

Shortly after the incident, the lifters told our photog it was just a misunderstanding ... and they've got nothing but love for Pettyfer.

The highlight of the upcoming Whitney Houston biopic is obviously her singing "I Will Always Love You," and TMZ got hold of the re-created new version of the song and it's, well ... different.

Whitney's family is at war with Lifetime, trying to block the movie because they don't think it properly honors her. Obviously the family has blocked the network's ability to use authentic Whitney tracks.

So they hired a chick named Deborah Cox to voice Whitney's hits, and we got audio from the set, recorded this week, where Deborah belts out "The Bodyguard" hit.

There's a huge division in our newsroom. Some people think Deborah -- who's famous for "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" -- has a voice that's indistinguishable from Whitney's. Others say it's a travesty to pretend Deborah and Whitney are in the same league.

So, we gotta ask ...

"The Wanted" singer Siva Kaneswaran convinced his girlfriend to throw a "Star Wars"-themed wedding ... and he didn't even have to use Jedi mind tricks.

Siva's fiancee Nareesha McCaffrey agreed to the gimmicky nuptials -- actually we're told he just wore her down -- but the one outstanding sticking point was the dress.

We're told his fiancee refused to walk down the aisle in a slave Leia costume. She's insisting on a traditional wedding dress.

Their dog/ring bearer was not so lucky ... he'll be wearing a Chewbacca outfit.

Groomsmen will wear "Star Wars" cuff links and boutonniere's emblazoned with the movie's logo -- along with other fun stuff.

Leonardo DiCaprio says he's the victim of a heist involving the likes of Nelson Mandela ... and he's out for blood.

Leo took a pic with Mandela when the actor was shooting "Blood Diamond" in South Africa. Mandela autographed the pic for Leo with the inscription, "To Leo DiCaprio, Best Wishes, Mandela, 4-8-07."

Somehow the autographed pic never got to Leo. Sources connected with the actor tell TMZ ... he believes it was stolen.

The prized photo eventually made its way to a company called Moments in Time, which is now selling it with an asking price of $25,000.

Leo wants the photo back and according to the NY Post he sicked his lawyer on the company. But Moments in Time is telling Leo to pound sand, claiming they rightly own the photo.

In case you care, there's this thing in the law called "bona fide purchaser," meaning if someone buys property not knowing it was ill-gotten, they're generally the rightful owner nonetheless.

Lindsay Lohan doesn't hear the words, "and the award goes to ..." very often ... she heard it Tuesday ... when she took home a trophy at a film festival in Italy. We kid you not.

Lindsay was honored with the Biggest Comeback Award at the Ischia Global Film & Music Fest. She even showed up to collect her hardware and make a brief acceptance speech -- 'cuz you never know if that opportunity's ever gonna come around again.

We're not exactly sure what comeback they're talking about ... her recent acting work has been limited to TV ... and her last film was "The Canyons" -- which grossed $56K.

The people behind the "Straight Outta Compton" movie say they're NOT just casting overweight, dark-skinned black girls to play "poor" people in the movie ... telling TMZ the casting ad was an "innocent mistake."

The ad went viral -- with the casting company inviting L.A.-based women to apply for one of several categories of extras that will be featured in the film.

The casting agency used an A, B, C, D scale to group the women. Here's the breakdown:

A) "Hottest of the hottest. Models" (open to women of any race)
B) "Fine ... Beyonce is a protoype here" (light-skinned women)
C) African American girls ... Medium to light skinned with a weave
D) "These are African American girls. Poor, not in good shape. Medium to dark skin tone."

People were upset ... since the "D" group was the only group associated with an economic class -- "poor" -- and it was made up of only dark-skinned, out of shape black women.

But we spoke with a rep for Sande Alessi Casting who tells us ... the ad was an "innocent mistake" -- and when it comes to casting the "poor" people, they're also looking for women of various skin tones and body types.

As for people who claim the A,B,C,D grouping system was racist -- Sande Alessi Casting says it's the usual method they use to look for different types of people for any project and it wasn't meant to offend anyone.

First a female Thor ... now a Black Captain America ... it's about time the universe of comic book heroes had some diversity ... so says rapper/actor Common -- who once saw his own superhero dreams crushed.

Common tells TMZ ... he applauds Marvel's decision to have a Black Cap, calling it "a beautiful thing."

Marvel announced Wednesday The Falcon -- aka Sam Wilson -- will become Capt. America in the comic book series.

Common may still be smarting from 2008 ... when he was cast to play Green Lantern in a movie that fell apart during the Hollywood writer's strike. He says he'd STILL love to play the part.

As for Captain America ... Marvel says The Falcon will appear as Cap only in the comic books ... not in the movies.

Chris Christie can take down a plate of buffalo wings, but he can't beat The Rock ... at least not when it comes to his political satire video.

Christie posted a YouTube video this week ... a mock trailer that portrayed the New Jersey governor as an action hero fighting for pension reform. But the video -- titled "No Pain, No Gain" -- featured a shot of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson from one of his films.

Johnson's lawyers complained and the video was taken down. It was re-cut ... sans The Rock ... and re-posted again. Christie's Twitter page read, "Unfortunately The Rock is in high demand & won’t be able to appear in our Summer flick. But #NoPainNoGain lives on."

BTW ... The Rock is a registered Republican.

"Pippi Longstocking" actress Tami Erin has an ex-boyfriend who should worry about getting shot ... this according to her own father.

David Young -- Erin's ex live-in BF -- ran to court a few days ago for an order prohibiting Tami from coming near him. David says he broke up with Tami nearly 2 years ago and she went radio silent ... until last month.

David says Erin started calling him at his Merrill Lynch office and leaving threatening messages. He didn't think much of it, until he spoke with Mr. Longstocking, who told him his daughter was "very dangerous" and he had reason to believe she had a gun.