Movies

When the judge announced that Eddie Ray Routh was found guilty of murdering "American Sniper" Chris Kyle Tuesday night ... his wife was comforted in court by a famous friend, ex-NFL star Jay Novacek.

Novacek -- who was a 5-time Pro Bowl tight end for the Dallas Cowboys in the '90s -- has become close with Kyle's family ... and attended the reading of the verdict in the Erath County, TX courtroom.

Jay's wife first met Chris' widow, Taya Kyle, at a gun convention not long after Chris was killed -- and the two have been dear friends ever since. The two families also attend the same church.

Jay's wife has also praised Taya for being there for her after she was injured in a car accident last year.

"Power Rangers" producers might morph into mighty angry plaintiffs if one fan-turned-filmmaker doesn't pull down his dark and ultra-violent spoof starring James Van Der Beek ... stat.

Here's the deal ... producer Adi Shankar posted a badass dystopian spoof of "Power Rangers" on Vimeo, but SCG Power Rangers LLC -- the company behind the real McCoy -- caught wind and demanded it be taken down.

Shankar ... whose previous work includes "The Grey," "Lone Survivor" and "Dredd" -- isn't backing down. It's still posted on YouTube and Shankar's rep, Ash Venkatram says he'll keep it there until he gets a cease and desist.

From the outside, the Australian set of the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie doesn't look like much ... just a stack of shipping containers. But like a buried treasure, there's a secret within ...

And you thought Michael Keaton not winning the Oscar was the biggest surprise ... the guy who won for Best Adapted Screenplay is not gay!

Graham Moore did an interview after the awards in which he said, "I'm not gay, but I've never talked publicly about depression before or any of that and that was so much of what the movie was about ..."

Fact is ... he never said in his acceptance speech he was gay, but everyone assumed it because the main character in the movie was gay and the torment he had to endure resulted in his suicide.

Moore said at the Oscars he had some connection to Alan Turing because both of them had issues fitting in growing up. He told BuzzFeed, "It was one of the things that drew me to Alan Turing so much, I think we all feel like weirdos for different reasons."

Moore spoke to reporters backstage and did not broach the topic of his sexuality ... even though a reporter tried to ask him about it ... without actually asking him.

Mike Tyson could be the next Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson -- at least in Algeria anyway -- where the boxing legend just scored himself a role punching a TON of people in a big Algerian action flick.

Tyson's one of the stars of "Gates of the Sun" ... where it appears he plays a goon for hire who beats the crap out of people on behalf of his employers.

The flick, which hits theaters in March, also stars former Kung Fu champ Lorie Pester and Algerian actor Smaïn (who may or may not be a big deal in Algeria, we're not really sure).

So, what's the plot? The mob moves to Algeria ... and it's up to a "a super secret agent, martial arts specialist, who will do anything to defend Algeria and destroy that organization."

Unclear which side Tyson's on ... but one thing's for sure -- he's gonna punch so many people.

To quote the Grail Knight at the end of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" ... Harrison Ford chose wisely.

Instead of suffering through the nearly 4 hours of whatever that was on TV last night, Harrison grabbed his wife Calista Flockhart and hit up the Staples Center to watch the crappy Lakers.

But unlike the Academy Awards, Harrison Ford got a surprise ending ... the last place Lake Show actually pulled out a victory over the almost equally bad Boston Celtics.

ALL HAIL KING JOFFE JOFFER ... 'cause Snoop Dogg straight up transformed into the ruler of Zamunda last night for an INSANE "Coming to America" themed bday party for his son ... and we've got in the footage!!

Snoop threw the mega-bash to celebrate his 18-year-old football star son Cordell Broadus (who just committed to UCLA) ... recreating the famous wedding scene from the 1988 Eddie Murphy flick.

There were dancers ... there were rose petal throwers ... there was even a THRONE!!!

You gotta watch the video ... it's one of the craziest things we've ever seen.

BTW, we know what you're thinking ... and no, we have no idea if Cordell got himself a bath too.

If Steven Spielberg wants Chris Pratt to play a version of "Indiana Jones" who can talk someone's ear off in the rumored new movie ... then one legendary writer says he'd love to help.

Aaron Sorkin was heading out of the Montage Saturday night in Bev Hills when he told our photog he's always wanted to write an action flick ... so if Spielberg and co. came knocking, he'd be down.

There's a fear though. Check out the video and hear it from Sorkin himself.

Jeremy Renner has fired back at his estranged wife who filed for divorce, making it clear that there are no real issues, so why is she fighting so fiercely?

Renner filed legal docs in which he asks for joint custody of their kid. Sonni Pacheco is asking for primary custody, even though they've been sharing 50/50 custody of 23-month-old Ava since their split late last year.

Jeremy also makes it clear in his papers, filed by disso-queen Laura Wasser, there's a prenup and his earnings are his and his alone. He wants the prenup enforced, and that's that.

Sonni has made a bunch of claims, including an allegation that Jeremy's house is not safe for Ava, but we're told Sonni had no complaints when she lived in the house the entire time they were married.

Sonni's legal docs also suggest Jeremy's not anteing up in the child support department, even though we're told he's been paying her since they split.

What do killer omnipotent robots, Floyd Mayweather, and Manny Pacquiao have in common?

"The Avengers" are going to kick all of their asses in May ... because Marvel Studios tells TMZ Sports there are no plans to bump the biggest movie of the year ... because of the fight of the century.

We spoke to reps for Marvel who tell us despite the fact that "Avengers: Age Of Ultron" is slated to open on May 1st -- the same weekend as Mayweather vs. Pacquiao -- there are ZERO plans to push the release.

It's an interesting dilemma for Marvel ... do you really want your big blockbuster going up against a global event that's expected to rake in more than $300 million?? Especially on its 1st Saturday?

Despite the competition, the company says it's riding with "Captain America" and "Iron Man" because when we asked if there were any plans to jiggle the schedule the response was simply, "Nope."

J.K. Simmons isn't someone with whom you want to play musical chairs ... the Oscar nominated "Whiplash" star says there's only one situation where throwing furniture at people works.

Simmons is cleaning up this awards season for his role as the ball-busting Terence Fletcher in the film ... but our photog found out, he doesn't agree with his character's teaching methods.

It doesn't sound like it was inspired by any teachers he had growing up, but he thinks Fletcher's "methods" only fly in one place.

A short time ago in cyberspace not so far away ... nerds were up in arms over the new lightsaber seen briefly in the "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" trailer -- but the movie's director says he's got saber support from Hollywood's biggest nerd.

J.J. Abrams was on his way out of Bad Robot's studio ... when he told our photog he's not surprised at the cross-saber backlash -- but he also knew lots of fans would think it's cool.

In case you don't know, the hubbub is over the practicality of the design -- it seems like the sword could easily cut anyone using the Jedi tool.

But Abrams says one celeb nerd with major pull already gave him two wookiee thumbs up.

Hint: he's a big "Lord of the Rings" fan.

The woman who died in the Bruce Jenner car crash once appeared with Elvis in one of his big movies.

We found this video of "Double Trouble" released in 1967. Kim Howe is the woman with blonde hair piled up in a bun, dancing with Elvis as she holds a beer stein.

Howe, who was in her early 20s at the time, is dressed as a fraulein in the bar.

We're told this was one of the highlights of Howe's life. It doesn't appear she was featured in other film or TV projects.

And something weirdly coincidental ... Elvis' longtime girlfriend was Linda Thompson, who was married to Bruce Jenner.

Fighting words from The Miz ... this time, the WWE superstar tells TMZ Sports he honestly believes he's the GREATEST actor in wrestling history -- and specifically calls out The Rock.

In Miz's defense, it sounds like he'd been drinking on his way out of Warwick in Hollywood Wednesday night -- but he couldn't be more clear, "There is no WWE superstar who's ever been a better actor than me."

For the records, Miz's biggest credits:

-- "The Marine 3: Homefront"
-- "The Marine 4: Moving Target"
... and he played himself in "Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery"

The Rock's biggest credits:

-- "Fast Five"
-- "Fast & Furious 6"
-- "G.I. Joe: Retaliation"
-- "The Scorpion King"
-- "Walking Tall"
... and he's considered one of the biggest action stars in Hollywood.

Miz acknowledges The Rock is the #1 guy right now ... but insists, when it comes to talent, he's the one layin' the smackdown.

June Fairchild -- the actress best known for her iconic Ajax snorting scene in "Up In Smoke" -- has died at 68 ... and friends are hoping her former Cheech & Chong co-stars can help with her funeral costs.

Fairchild had a big movie career in the '70s -- besides 'Smoke' ... she appeared in "Head" with The Monkees ... and "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" with Clint Eastwood.

She's also widely credited for naming the band "Three Dog Night" ... while dating lead singer Danny Hutton.

June was put in hospice care over the weekend, and died Tuesday night after a long battle with liver cancer.

Sources close to Fairchild tell us her last few years were difficult financially. She'd been homeless for several years. We're told her friends are reaching out to Tommy Chong to see if he can pitch in for her funeral and burial expenses.

Clay Matthews ain't no Milli Vanilli ... TMZ Sports has learned the Green Bay Packers star laid down REAL LEGIT VOCALS for his cameo in "Pitch Perfect 2" ... and apparently, it came out pretty good.

In fact, all of the football players who have a cameo in the movie hit up a recording studio and flexed their god-given pipes for a scene in the upcoming movie ... at least, that's what Jordan Rodgers told us on "TMZ Hollywood Sports."

Jordan -- a QB in the Canadian Football League -- also happens to be the younger brother of Aaron Rodgers ... and says he got the role as a "honorary" member of the Packers.

"So the first day we were there, we recorded in the studio," Rodgers says ... "so this will be our real voices."

"They said they were gonna make us sound good ... but not too good. They don't want it to be unrealistic."

So, who was the best singer of the bunch? Check out the clip.