Movies

Ben Affleck put the turmoil of his marriage aside, and went right into Hollywood salesman mode ... charming the hell out of Batman fans at Comic-Con.

Ben and the rest of the cast of "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" just held their news conference down in San Diego -- and you'd never know he just decided to end his 10-year marriage to Jennifer Garner.

He did make one subtle reference to his personal troubles ... while still wearing his wedding ring. Watch Ben explain how director Zack Snyder convinced him he was perfect for the role. And his story about running into a former Batman is classic ... even if he's told it before.

Roger Rees, best known for playing Nicholas Nickleby on Broadway and TV ... died in New York on Friday.

Rees' rep says the Tony Award winning star was at his home when he passed after a brief illness. He had been performing up until May when he left his show Broadway show "The Visit" to undergo a medical procedure.

Rees was also famous for film and TV roles -- co-starring in "Frida," "Robin Hood: Men in Tights," "The West Wing" and "Cheers."

He played Robin Colcord on "Cheers" ... a British millionaire who dated Kirstie Alley's character, Rebecca Howe.

Rees was 71.

Amy Smart's indie movie's already blowing up -- well, almost -- since filming is on hold right now after a real GRENADE was found on set!

The bomb scare began when location scouts showed up early Friday morning in an Altadena, CA neighborhood to begin work on "Sister Cities" ... which stars Smart and Alfred Molina.

Director Sean Hanish tells us the scouts stumbled upon what looks like an old, rusted grenade ... sitting in a driveway. They immediately called on-set fire officials. Once police got there, they decided better safe than sorry -- and phoned in the bomb squad.

Right now, the set is shut down ... and the cast and crew are being kept 500 yards back, while the cops check out the device.

This is the very FIRST day of filming. Hanish says he was only about 3 shots into filming.

Omar Sharif -- legendary star of movies like "Doctor Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia" -- has passed away.

According to his agent, the actor suffered a heart attack in Cairo. Earlier this year, he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Sharif earned an Oscar nomination for his role in "Lawrence of Arabia" and won Golden Globes for that role and for 'Zhivago.'

Fun fact: The Egyptian born actor was also known as one of the best bridge players in the world.

Omar was 83.

62-year-old Jeff Goldblum is finally a dad ... because his 32-year-old wife (a former Olympian) just gave birth to their first kid ... on Independence Day!!!

Goldblum and his wife Emilie Livingston announced the good news on social media -- introducing their new son, Charlie Ocean Goldblum.

FYI -- Emilie was a rhythmic gymnast for Team Canada in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney ... and placed 17th in the All Around competition. Since then, she's become a professional aerialist -- performing with huge stars like Justin Bieber, Jennifer Lopez and Trey Songz.

Livingston and Goldblum married in November 2014 ... and she announced the pregnancy the day before the two tied the knot.

Congrats!

No offense to photogs, but Taylor Lautner ain't one of you -- or as Twain would put it ... reports of the "Twilight" star's career dying have been greatly exaggerated.

Sources close to Taylor tell TMZ ... everyone got the wrong idea when he was seen with a professional grade camera during a Nicki Minaj performance in London. We’re told he was being swarmed by fans in the VIP area and security thought it would be safer for him to hang in the press area. As for the gear ... a photog lent it to him.

More importantly ... we're told Taylor's acting career is solid, in fact that's why he's in London. He’s currently on the BBC show "Cuckoo" ... and he's got 2 films coming out this year -- including "Ridiculous 6" with Adam Sandler.

Chris Tucker should be celebrating this week ... his Netflix stand-up comedy special comes out Friday -- which would be awesome, except for the fact he's getting sued for it.

Comedian Terry Hodges is suing Netflix and Tucker, claiming he's done a ton of work for Tucker on this special -- like editing, writing, acting, and producing -- but hasn't been paid in years. That's right ... YEARS. Hodges says he and Chris started working on the material in 2008!

Hodges says he's racked up $66k in fees, during trips to Philadelphia, L.A., and Atlanta -- and hasn't been regularly paid since 2011. On top of that, he says Tucker promised to make him a co-producer ... which would entitle him to a little back end, but that also fell through.

Tucker's attorney Marty Singer says, "This lawsuit is absurd and completely without merit. We fully expect this case to be thrown out by the court."

Amanda Peterson -- star of the flick "Can't Buy Me Love" -- has died at her home in Greeley, Colorado ... TMZ has learned.

We spoke with Peterson's father who tells us ... the family hadn't heard from 43-year-old Amanda since July 3rd and became concerned. Her body was finally discovered in her home on July 5.

As for cause of death, Peterson's father tells us they don't know the official cause of death -- but notes, "She had some illness and a sleep apnea problem that may have contributed."

We're also told Peterson had been dealing with several medical issues over the past 2 years -- including pneumonia, sinusitis and sleep apnea. Peterson's father also says she had been living in a home with mold issues ... but moved out about a year ago.

Peterson became a superstar playing Cindy Mancini opposite Patrick Dempsey in the 1987 romantic comedy ... but she left the entertainment industry altogether in 1994 and had been living in Colorado for years.

We're told she went back to school several years ago -- but dropped out around 2010. Recently, we're told she had been trying to make it as a writer.

How serious did movie star Michael B. Jordan take his role for the movie "Creed?" So serious that his boxing co-star Gabriel Rosado says MBJ could deal out some two-fisted punishment for real.

Pint-sized Abby Ryder Fortson is making tons of dough while tearing up Hollywood … starring in 3 TV shows and making a superhero leap to the big screen.

TMZ has obtained little Abby’s HBO contract for “Togetherness.”

Here’s what the 7-YEAR-OLD is making -- $17,500 per episode for season one and with season two already in production, her pay is jumping up to $20,000 per episode. If the show keeps on rolling along for a 3rd season, she’ll get another 5% bump -- and that's just ONE of her jobs.

Abby's crushing the casting process ... also booking gigs on ABC’s “The Whispers,” Amazon’s “Transparent,” and the Marvel movie “Ant-Man.” We mentioned she's 7, right?

Mom and Dad are working actors too, but at this pace ... Abby will be handing them allowance soon.

Shia LaBeouf's love for the red, white and blue is deeper than you think. We got him line dancing to liberal country rocker Steve Earle in a Stay Hotel USA parking lot, in rural South Dakota.

LaBeouf has been popping up all over the Black Hills and Badlands, where he’s filming “American Honey.” The most recent sighting saw LaBeouf and his film crew working off breakfast with a good 'ol American foot stomp to “Copperhead Road” before heading to set.

Channing Tatum's got a shirt on in this video -- and that's the ONLY bad thing about this collection of moves you WON'T see in "Magic Mike XXL"

Here's the normally clean cut Matt Damon looking all Spicoli in China -- shoulder length locks pulled back into a freakin' ponytail.

How do ya like them apples?

Kevin Hart and The Rock engaged in some on-set hijinks when shooting for their new movie was interrupted by a minor fire emergency -- which accidentally led to K-Hart kinda pissing off a fire chief.

The Somerville Fire Department tells TMZ they responded to the call early Thursday morning. It wasn't much -- just a light fixture with smoke coming out of it, which took less than 15 mins to put down.

Kevin posted a funny vid with The Rock as they waited for firefighters to do their thing, but in his caption he mistakenly thanked the city of Boston instead of Somerville. The Somerville Fire Chief did NOT think that was a wickid pissa -- he quickly corrected Kev's mistake when we spoke to him.

Score one for the Treblemakers! "Pitch Perfect" star Utkarsh Ambudkar ripped a freestyle rap that was totally the s**t, because that's what it was about ... his dog's crap to be exact, and it was near perfect.

Ambudkar had just gotten off a plane from shooting "Barbershop 3" -- and still managed to drop a cypher when our photog gave him a dope beat. Best of all ... his dog had juuust dropped a deuce outside LAX, so he worked it right into the rhyme.

Sue Bob White -- who stars in the documentary "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia" -- learned a 'no duh' lesson ... don't name-drop yourself to cops, when you have outstanding warrants!

Sheriff deputies in Martin County, Kentucky tell TMZ ... Sue Bob and her soon-to-be mother-in-law Virginia came in to bail out Sue Bob's fiancé, Eric -- who she also referred to as her brother ... soooo, yeah.

During the process, we're told Sue Bob couldn't help but mention that she's a famous TV person since the documentary's release. So, deputies ran her name -- just for fun -- and it turned out Sue Bob had an outstanding warrant for shoplifting.

The name-dropping only cost her a $525 fine, but Virginia was less lucky. She had an outstanding warrant for public intoxication, and got arrested.

Silence is golden ... and also something Sue Bob needs to learn.