Movies

Hayden Panettiere's boyfriend got hauled off to jail after their night out on the town turned violent at home ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the situation tell us ... the "Nashville" star and her BF, Brian Hickerson, were out drinking together in Hollywood Wednesday night before heading back to their pad. We're told the couple had an argument that turned physical and, at some point, cops were called ... it's unclear by whom.

Police showed up around 2 AM Thursday, and our sources say they noticed redness and marks on Hayden's body. After interviewing both of them, we're told they determined Hickerson allegedly started the fight, and arrested him.

Law enforcement sources tell us he was booked for felony domestic violence. He was released later Thursday after posting a $50k bond.

This isn't the first time Hickerson has been involved in a domestic dispute, but last time it was with his father.

We broke the story ... Brian and his dad, David, got into an altercation at a home in South Carolina in October. According to the police report, cops responded to a call for assault and battery, and when they showed up Hayden answered the door in an apparent drunk and frantic state.

About a month later, Hayden and Brian were spotted at a Hollywood hot spot ... and he caused a scene with a faux proposal.

The couple's been dating since sometime last summer, presumably around the time Hickerson "saved" Panettiere from swarming paparazzi.

Chewbacca's howling in heaven today ... Peter Mayhew -- the man behind the mask of the iconic 'Star Wars' character -- has died ... according to his family.

We're told the actor died from a heart condition Tuesday at his home in North Texas, and was surrounded by friends and family. Peter played Chewie in all three films of the original 'Star Wars' trilogy, and did it all over again decades later in 'The Revenge of the Sith' and in 2015's 'The Force Awakens.'

His family says Peter fought his way back from being in a wheelchair to star in 'The Force Awakens' before retiring. However, he served as a consultant to Joonas Suotamo -- the Finnish basketball player who took over the role in 'The Last Jedi.'

Mayhew's survived by his wife and 3 children. His family is asking fans to donate to the Peter Mayhew Foundation -- which benefits families around the world in crisis situations -- in lieu of sending flowers or gifts.

They add ... there will be a memorial service for family in June, but in December ... they're planning to hold a service fans can attend in Los Angeles.

Peter was 74.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are about to add another kid to their growing family ... cuz Blake just arrived at the "Pokémon Detective Pikachu" premiere with a very visible baby bump.

Blake and Ryan showed up for Ryan's new flick Thursday in New York City ... and true to the movie's main character, Blake was decked out in a yellow dress.

It's interesting, Lively hasn't been seen often, or posted anything on Instagram since January 11 ... what better way to drum up some massive press for Ryan's movie.

You see them quickly moving through the crowd and it's no secret anymore, she's clearly pregnant.

The new bundle will be Ryan and Blake's third child together ... they already have 2-year-old daughter Inez and 4-year-old daughter James. They got married in September 2012 in Charleston, South Carolina.

Ryan was previously married to Scarlett Johansson from 2008 to 2011 and engaged to Alanis Morissette in 2004 ... but they never got hitched. Ryan is Blake's first husband.

We're guessing the kid's gonna do just fine in the gene department.

Tom Brady, Matt Damon and Jimmy Kimmel bro'd down over some sushi in Beverly Hills ... they're super rich and super famous ... so, question is, who footed the bill???

The power trio hit the town after shooting a bit for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Wednesday ... getting a table at Yazawa Japanese BBQ.

Of course, Brady's been all over La La Land this week ... he was spotted throwin' the pigskin with some UCLA players earlier in the day before joining the stars for dinner.

So ... who pays the tab?! Let's break it down:

Kimmel -- Jimmy just had Brady and Damon on his show ... so a few sushi rolls as a thank you for coming on his show ain't out of the question.

Damon -- the actor's a HUGE Pats and TB12 fan ... so a congrats on winning a 6th SUPER BOWL dinner is definitely not out of the question.

Then there's Brady ... the dude's made more than $212 MILLION in his career -- and that's just his football salary -- and uhh, we might have our winner.

Regardless of who whipped out the wallet ... that's one helluva power table.

Herbert 'Cowboy' Coward is best-known for playing the dentally challenged redneck -- opposite Bill McKinney as the piggy-squealing, assailant Mountain Man -- and delivers the infamous line, "he got a real pretty mouth ain't he," in the 1972 backwoods thriller, "Deliverance."

Herbert 'Cowboy' Coward shared the screen with big-name stars including Jon Voight as Ed, Burt Reynolds as Lewis, Ned Beatty as Bobby and Ronny Cox as Drew.

Fun fact: "Deliverance" was filmed on location in Georgia and Coward did his own stunts, including being dangled along the steep cliff in the scene after he was shot by Voight's character.

Michael Blackson is chilling on cloud nine -- in a real comfy robe too -- because Eddie Murphy, one of his childhood icons, is interested in putting him in the "Coming to America" sequel.

Michael joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" to talk about the big news Eddie broke to us ... that he's considering casting Blackson because he's African -- straight outta Ghana -- and because he's funny.

MB says just having Eddie mention him as a potential actor in the movie is a dream come true. Having a legendary comedian publicly voice his approval is another huge feather in Michael's cap, and you can see the excitement he's feeling

However, there's one more important thing Blackson's waiting to see happen.

As you know ... Eddie dropped Michael's name unsolicited when we asked him if he was open to casting real African actors for the movie, an idea Akon first mentioned to us.

Michael's seen the clip of Eddie, and tells us it would be an incredible coincidence if he lands the role ... especially after his childhood experiences with the OG "Coming to America."

It's kinda funny ... Michael tells us why Eddie's character caused problems for him when he was growing up in New Jersey, and he's got an idea for how they can even the score.

Jim Belushi just pulled a 180 on his divorce case, filing for it to be dismissed in court ... TMZ has learned.

Jim filed legal docs requesting the case to be dismissed and the judge has signed off on it ... this according to court records. As we reported back in March 2018 ... Jim's wife, Jennifer Sloan, filed for divorce after almost 20 years of marriage.

She had previously cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for their separation. They had already had an existing custody arrangement in place for their 17-year-old son, Jared.

Ben Stiller is on Capitol Hill with a stomach full of butterflies ... admitting to us he's nervous to go before lawmakers and testify on the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

We got Ben before he went in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday to try to convince legislators to help out Syrian refugees ... and the actor told us he couldn't help but feel nervous about his big moment.

Ben's the goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and he's pleading with countries who host refugees to help ensure long-term support for displaced people.

This is his first time testifying on Capitol Hill ... so you can understand why Ben's anxious about pleading his case in front of a bunch of Senators.

Well, he has had some experience testifying, but we're guessing his hilarious 'SNL' skit -- playing Michael Cohen testifying on the Hill -- doesn't really compare to the real deal.

Let's just hope he doesn't slip into Cohen mode. Ben did tell us one of his classic roles could come in handy, though, during this testimony.

John Singleton had a plan in place for his death, because TMZ has learned he left a will, and that's a monumental development in what appears to be a family war that erupted while he lay dying in the hospital.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, John's mother, Shelia Ward, is in possession of the will and it will soon be filed with the probate court. Shelia handled all of John's business affairs, which includes the last will and testament.

As we reported, last week Cleopatra, one of John's 7 children, accused Shelia of trying to corral his assets and squeeze out his kids. Cleopatra launched her attack after Shelia filed legal docs last week to get a temporary conservatorship while John was unable to make decisions. The legal fight ended when John died.

If the 51-year-old, famed director had died without a will, Shelia would get nothing from his reported $35 million estate, because under California law the assets would be divided equally among his 7 children. But, since there's a will, John decides who gets what, and who gets nothing.

Given the business relationship between John and Shelia, it's a safe bet she's the executor of the will, which surely would not please Cleopatra.

It's unclear when John signed the will, but it's not out of the question someone might try and mount a challenge that the will should be invalid because of undue influence or mental incapacity -- this came up after Michael Jackson died. Important to note ... most of these challenges fail.

10:46 AM PT -- The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has declined to prosecute Rick for his April 2 arrest due to lack of sufficient evidence. The investigation into this morning's arrest is still ongoing.

Rick Schroder is in jail after an early morning bust for allegedly striking his girlfriend ... and it's the second time cops have hauled him in for alleged domestic violence.

Cops got a call around 12:43 AM for a domestic incident at the "NYPD Blue" and "Silver Spoons" star's home. When they arrived they spoke to him and his girlfriend -- and shortly after that, Schroder was arrested for felony domestic violence ... according to our law enforcement sources.

The fact he was booked for a felony typically means the victim had visible marks of some kind. We're told Schroder's girlfriend refused medical treatment on the scene.

Turns out, the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. made almost the exact same arrest 30 days ago. Our sources say Schroder was taken into custody on April 2 ... also for felony domestic violence.

We're told deputies went to his home -- again, a little after midnight -- after he allegedly punched his girlfriend in the face as she tried to leave their home.

Schroder bailed out after that arrest. He is currently in custody for this morning's arrest, and we're told his bail this time is set at $50,000.

We've reached out to Schroder's reps ... no word back yet.

Eddie Murphy is totally down for casting real Africans in his "Coming to America" sequel ... and it sounds like he's got one very funny one in mind.

We got Eddie as he was leaving E Baldi Tuesday in Bev Hills, and asked him about the highly anticipated movie ... which started pre-production last month. Outside of Eddie, Arsenio Hall and Shari Headley (Lisa McDowell) ... little is known about who's co-starring in the film.

Akon, who grew up in Senegal, recently told us Eddie should be hiring real deal African actors for the flick, and we brought that suggestion right to the man himself. Good news for Africans, and GREAT news for Michael Blackson -- Eddie's interested!!!

Unsolicited, Ed dropped the comedian's name, telling us ... "There's one funny African. That Michael Blackson." Pretty sure there are more than one, but we get the point.

Eddie didn't let on whether Michael -- who's from Ghana -- is a done deal for the cast, but it definitely sounds like he's interested.

We called Blackson, and he had no idea. As he put it, "That would be life changing!!! Everyone in the world is gonna watch that movie."

Barack Obama is remembering John Singleton as a trailblazing director who opened doors for filmmakers of color, and showed Hollywood there were stories that needed to be told.

The former President tweeted his condolences to the late director's family on Tuesday and took a moment to remember John's work and everything he did for minority filmmakers.

Obama said, "His seminal work, Boyz n the Hood, remains one of the most searing, loving portrayals of the challenges facing inner-city youth. He opened doors for filmmakers of color to tell powerful stories that have been too often ignored."

As we reported ... John died Monday after being taken off life support following a massive stroke. He was just 51.

John was the first African American nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director ... for "Boyz n the Hood." John was only 23 when he directed the groundbreaking film.

11:21 AM PT -- We've obtained the dispatch audio where police seem to identify the possible suspect as a Hispanic male in shorts and a t-shirt. They identify the reporting person -- possibly Jonze -- was waiting in the middle of the street for cops to arrive.

Director Spike Jonze came face-to-face with a home intruder who was armed with a knife ... setting off an intense standoff with police.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Jonze arrived at his Los Feliz home around 6 AM Tuesday and discovered a man inside. Jonze was able to get out of the house and call the cops. We're told the man was armed with a knife and refused to come out once police arrived.

LAPD and SWAT officers swarmed the home for several hours before the man finally surrendered just before 11 AM.

Our sources say at this time, it does not appear anyone was injured during the standoff. It's unclear how the man got inside Jonze's home or if he has any connection to the director.

Michael Blackson lost a brother when John Singleton suddenly died ... that's how much the famed director meant to him.

We got Michael out Monday night leaving Toca Madera in WeHo and asked him about the "Boyz n the Hood" director's death Monday -- at only 51 -- after suffering a massive stroke. No doubt Michael's devastated by the loss of his friend.

Check out the clip ... he talks about John and his GF, Rayvon, having a baby a year ago, making things even sadder. He tells us how he first met John and the huge plans they had about working together.

Michael also tells us which of John's classics is his favorite flick. Remember, Michael's a comedian ... so that's your first clue.

Jeff Goldblum's trip to Hawaii isn't all sunshine and rainbows ... because he claims he got his belongings straight-up jacked from a hotel locker while he was taking a dip in the ocean.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Jeff filed a police report over the weekend after his personal items were stolen out of a locker at the Outrigger resort in Waikiki, and cops are investigating.

We're told the "Jurassic Park" actor crammed a bunch of his stuff into a locker before diving into the Pacific, and when he came back to shore his stuff was nowhere to be found ... so he called the cops.

As you can see ... Jeff was still dripping wet when he was talking to police on the beach. Talk about a buzz kill after frolicking around in the salt water.

Michael J. Pollard was in his late 20s when he played the tattooed half-wit, C.W. Moss -- who goes from a gas station attendant to a criminal accomplice -- in the classic 1967 biographical film "Bonnie and Clyde."

Michael J. Polland was part of a star-studded cast for the flick with Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow, Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker, Estelle Parsons as Blanche and Gene Hackman as Buck Barrow.

Pollard's performance was so strong amongst the A-list roster, it landed him a nomination for best supporting actor at the 40th Annual Academy Awards back in 1968.