Movies

Wesley Snipes says there's absolutely no bad blood over losing his famous "Blade" role to Mahershala Ali ... it's just show business, baby!

Snipes admits the news -- which was just announced at Comic-Con last weekend as part of the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- came as a surprise ... but "it's ALL GOOD."

Snipes says ... "To all the DAYWALKERS losing their minds right now, Chillaaxx ... Such is the ‘business’ of ‘entertainment!’ Much peace to the MCU crew - always a fan."

Wesley also gives a shoutout to the late Stan Lee, saying "honor and respect to the grandmaster Stan."

As for Mahershala, Snipes congratulates him and calls him "a beautiful and talented artist whose expressions I look forward to experiencing for many years to come." He adds that he hopes to work with him some day.

The news came as a shock for some loyal "Blade" fans, who are upset about Wesley getting the snub, but he doesn't want them to fret. Snipes thanks them for their "incredible outpouring of love" but adds "‘nah fret nah worry, it’s not de end of de story.’"

Britney Spears stepped out with her boyfriend for their first high-profile public outing in a long time, and it was for a fitting occasion -- the premiere of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."

The lady in red made waves at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood Monday night with her BF, Sam Asghari ... looking fantastic and happy as the 2 posed for a bunch of photos.

Though they've been dating for a couple years, Britney and Sam haven't been seen together at a major event since the 2018 GLAAD Awards ... and it looks like they made the most of it for their first movie premiere.

Of course, people noticed Britney rocking some serious bling on her ring finger too ... sparking speculation the couple's engaged. They officially began dating on New Year's Day in 2017.

As we've reported ... Sam's been by Britney's side through her recent ups and downs, including on a jet ski and a bicycle last month while the 2 were on vacation in Miami.

Things seem to have calmed down for Brit since her father filed conservatorship docs amid all the #FreeBritney drama ... and she certainly looked free Monday night.

BTW -- the movie, the 9th from director Quentin Tarantino, opens on Friday.

Nashville-born Donald Joseph (DJ) Qualls gained fame after his hysterical role as the awkward ladies man (and car owner), Kyle -- who hooks up with the hottie at the fraternity party -- in the 2000 coming of age film "Road Trip."

DJ Qualls wasn't the only star in the cinematic masterpiece ... he shared the big screen with other celebs like Seann William Scott as his typecast bro character, E.L. Faldt, Breckin Myer as the angsty lover, Josh Parker, Paulo Costanzo as the wise Rubin Carver and Tom Green as ... well ... whatever the hell Tom Green does.

Austin Butler looks like he belongs on the Las Vegas strip, or at Graceland ... because he's looking more and more like Elvis Presley.

The former Nickelodeon star was dressed in all black during a coffee run in Los Angeles Monday afternoon, and you can see why he's playing Elvis in the upcoming biopic ... Austin's pretty much a dead ringer for the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

Austin's always kinda had the Elvis look going for him ... and now that he's been tabbed by director Baz Luhrmann to bring the icon to life on the big screen, Vanessa Hudgens' boyfriend somehow looks even more like a hound dog.

Drake Bell told us last week Austin's got a good face for Elvis ... and Butler's got us all shook up as he slips even further into character.

Young Simba just can't wait to be king, and he's already reaping the benefits of royalty ... because JD McCrary scored a fat check to do some voice work for the 'Lion King' remake.

TMZ has obtained JD's minors contract from the new Disney movie ... and it says the 12-year-old made $5,000 a day to be the voice of Young Simba.

But, there's more ... he gets $50,000 for each song in which he performs lead vocals -- he has one, "I Just Can't Wait to be King."

He also gets $25,000 a song for duets -- sorry, no duets, but he gets $15,000 for group songs, and he's on "Hakuna Matata" with Seth Rogen, Donald Glover and Billy Eichner.

And, not to forget ... he gets royalties on the album. It says 10%, but we're guessing the definition is less impressive.

JD has been in the biz for a minute, but "The Lion King" is by far his biggest gig ... he's also had parts in a bunch of TV shows, starring in "The Paynes" on the Oprah Winfrey Network and playing Young Michael Jackson in "American Soul."

Jon Favreau directed the remake, and he found a small part for his daughter, Madeleine. According to her minors contract, she pocketed $814 for one day of work as a singer.

It's the second Disney payday for Madeleine ... she previously played Raquel the Rhino in the 2016 'Jungle Book' remake.

"Lion King" dominated the box office in its first 3 days in theaters ... raking in a whopping $191.8 million across North America.

The good news ... Scar can't get his paws on JD's or Madeleine's money.

Harvey Weinstein has an accuser who is coming after him a second time ... Paz de la Huerta, who spent part of the day Monday with NYC prosecutors.

We got Paz at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, flanked by her attorney, Mark Heller. As they were leaving, Paz and Mark told us the meeting was about Weinstein, but they wouldn't get more specific.

You'll recall ... Paz is one of several women who've claimed Weinstein sexually assaulted them, and she even sued the disgraced movie producer over two alleged incidents, but the Manhattan D.A. declined to criminally prosecute Weinstein.

They say the D.A. wants to meet them again on Thursday ... unclear why.

She also sheds some light on her hospital scare a couple months back.

'Spider-Man' star Tony Revolori channeled his movie character at Comic-Con, becoming the life of the party by climbing a tree with flash to spare ... and then getting booted right after.

Tony was at Entertainment Weekly's Comic-Con bash Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel rooftop bar, Float, in San Diego -- this following an epic day of Marvel revelations, including casting announcements for "The Eternals," "Blade" and other projects. Big superhero day.

Eyewitnesses tell us he was hanging out with some actors from Amazon's new web series "The Boys" ... when a little game of truth-or-dare got underway.

We're told somebody dared Tony to climb a tree that was nearby, and without hesitation ... he hopped right up there and made his way across some branches. Classic Flash Thompson, right?

In video of the climb, obtained by TMZ, you can see a security guard rush over and tell him to get down. He wasn't very high up, but the guy looked kinda pissy about it.

Tony made his way down as more guards showed up -- and he got quite the ovation from onlookers, who told him the stunt was worth it. Tony seemed to agree.

It appears he was escorted off the property, because we're told Tony wasn't seen at the event afterward. Cops weren't called, so no harm, no foul. Flash left without incident.

Something tells us Peter Parker would be overjoyed about this.

The live-action 'Lion King' reboot was swimming in money this weekend here in America -- making it one of the best openings ever ... this in spite of critics kind of sh***in' on it.

Jon Favreau's latest re-imagining -- he also did the live-action version of "The Jungle Book" in 2016 -- hauled in a monster box office number in the North American market over the past few days, making an estimated $185 million ... and soaring past expectations.

The huge payday launched 'Lion King' into the 9th slot for highest-grossing opening ever (under "Avengers: Endgame," 'Infinity War,' 'The Force Awakens,' and other behemoths at the top) while also marking the largest July opening for a PG flick ever. In short, Disney made lots o' $$$$$$$$.

The funny thing is ... the movie is relatively so-so, according to critics anyway. It's got a 55% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Megacritic -- which ain't good -- but folks still shelled out.

The biggest gripes about Disney's latest live-action revival is that the lions don't have any discernible facial expressions regardless of what's happening -- unlike the cartoon, which is very expressive throughout the roller coaster of events (RIP, Mufasa).

Not only that, but the biggest showstopping songs are a shell of themselves, and Beyonce barely gets any screen time -- yeah, we've seen it ... critics are sorta spot-on.

Comic-Con may be 100 miles from Hollywood, but it seems Hollywood made the trek to San Diego 'cause everyone showed up.

Partial list ...  Angelina Jolie, Chris Hemsworth, Salma Hayek, Tom Cruise, Conan O'Brien, Natalie Portman, Cory Booker, Orlando Bloom, Olivia Munn, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Taron Egerton, Jessica Chastain, Cara Delevingne, Evan Rachel Wood, Jeremy Renner, Jerry O'Connell, John Bradley, Maisie Williams, Kristen Bell, Patrick Stewart, Norman Reedus, and Aisha Tyler.

Some of the panels ... "Game of Thrones," "The Eternals," "The Walking Dead," "Star Trek" Universe, "Riverdale," "Veronica Mars," "Black Widow," "Terminator: Dark Fate," and Marvel Studios.

The man who voiced the prince in "The Little Mermaid" says the guy expected to land the role in the live-action remake is a perfect fit ... and the new Ariel's a home run.

Christopher Daniel Barnes -- who voiced Prince Eric in the 1989 classic -- tells TMZ ... Harry Styles would be an excellent choice, because he actually checks all the boxes of a Disney prince in real life.

Styles is reportedly the front-runner for Eric, and Barnes says it's an added bonus he can sing ... now that some songs have actually been added for him.

Because, fun fact -- Barnes didn't get to sing any catchy tunes in 'Little Mermaid' ... and says he's the only Disney prince with that distinction.

It was a shocking scene. An enormously popular Hong Kong actor who has a number of American movie credits -- is in the hospital after a man jumped onstage and stabbed him ... and the dramatic scene plays out on video.

Actor Simon Yam -- who appeared in 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider' -- was onstage Saturday for the opening of a new store in the southern province of China. He was speaking to the crowd when a man walked onstage, pulled out a knife from his pocket and lunged at Yam with the weapon, stabbing him in the abdomen. The assailant then follows up by slashing Yam and then trying to stab him a second time.

Security intervened and subdued the assailant, who was taken into custody.

64-year-old Yam, who also appeared in 'The Cradle of Life' starring Angelina Jolie, "Election," "Exiled" and many other movies, is recovering from abdomen wounds and wounds on his arm from the slashes.

Jennifer Lopez -- who regularly steps out in only the bare essentials -- covered her entire bod in the sweltering NYC heat, but it may be a brilliant marketing ploy.

It was 90 degrees Friday in the Big Apple, but felt north of 100 because of humidity. That's why walking out in Guess threads from head to toe would certainly draw attention.

You may recall ... less than 2 months ago Guess announced a J Lo "It's My Party" line. Camo is not part of her line, but it could be.

LES GROSSMAN IS ALIVE AND WELL!!!

Tom Cruise revived the overweight studio exec character from "Tropic Thunder" Thursday night on Conan O'Brien's show at Comic-Con in San Diego. 11 years later and Tom has NOT lost the famous dance moves that catapulted Les into legendary status.

Tom made a surprise appearance at Comic-Con to promote the first "Top Gun: Maverick" trailer -- which looks SICK, BTW -- and later stopped by "Conan" to reminisce about the Ben Stiller-directed action-comedy.

Ya gotta watch ... after busting out the dance moves and explaining how that sequence all came about ... Tom summed up the glory days by busting out Les' signature cursing dialogue -- at Conan's request. Tom obliged.

Tom, of course, dropped the classic Les line -- "Would you stand back and literally f*** your own face?!?" -- during a scene with Matthew McConaughey as Rick Peck.

Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk may have parted ways, but they have come together as parents in a big way ... agreeing to live in the same town and share custody ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the former couple tell us, they have agreed to joint legal and physical custody of 2-year-old Lea De Seine. We're told it's a 50/50 split, although with work schedules it varies from month to month.

And, what's more ... our sources say they do NOT have a formal, written custody agreement.  They're so in sync with co-parenting, they don't feel the need to memorialize it.

We're also told they agreed to live in the same city ... New York City. They had a home in L.A. and also one in New York that they bought last October. It's unclear if Bradley will still be spending much time in L.A.

Bradley and Irina started dating in 2015 and split last month.

Will Smith and his family are in full vacation mode on a breathtaking Italian island ... golfing, swimming, boating and hopping on jet skis for some summer fun overseas!!!

Will brought the gang with him to Sardinia ... and they added a new guest to the bunch, Willow's boyfriend Tyler Cole.

The only thing more beautiful than the Smith clan ... the sparkling blue waters. Willow and Tyler dove right in, while Will and Jada Pinkett Smith stayed on land and hit the links for a competitive round between husband and wife.

Cuba Gooding Jr.'s motion to dismiss his groping charges doesn't sit well with the D.A.'s Office, which is calling him out for using the alleged victim's mental health as an excuse to toss the case.

The Manhattan D.A. responded to Cuba's motion to dismiss the case, saying the Oscar winner and his legal team are jumping the gun. In docs, obtained by TMZ, prosecutors say the alleged victim's mental health and expert evaluations of the surveillance videos ... are matters to be addressed once Gooding is on trial.

Further, the D.A. basically calls out Gooding's team for victim shaming, saying her mental health history is irrelevant to whether the actor touched her breast that night in the NYC bar. Prosecutors added ... if the judge were to dismiss Gooding's case, it would send a horrible message to the public -- that the tactic of exposing an accuser's past works.

Essentially, it would create a chilling effect for alleged victims coming forward.

According to the docs, the fact Gooding is a "world renowned" Oscar-winning movie star who has no prior convictions bares no relevance to his guilt or innocence in the matter.

Gooding's lawyers filed the motion to dismiss last month, but the judge said she would not make any "rash decisions" ... and tabled the matter for August 14.

As we reported ... Gooding turned himself in last month a few days after a woman called 911 claiming he touched her breast without consent at a New York bar. He was charged with one count of misdemeanor forcible touching and one count of sexual abuse in the third degree ... Cuba pled not guilty.

We obtained video of the incident via the bar's security footage, as well as another run-in after the alleged groping incident.

The Oscar-winner's attorneys, Mark Heller and Peter Toumbekis, claim he's innocent and believe the video evidence is inconclusive. Their motion cited blog posts where the accuser allegedly said she was starving for attention and also suffering PTSD and anxiety disorder.

Cuba himself claimed she has a "warped mental state" and has denied any misconduct with her. His lawyers argued the case is plagued by inconsistencies and an alleged NYPD screw-up.

In the docs, prosecutors shoot down any claim of police misconduct ... saying Cuba's attorneys misrepresented the police report and NYPD's initial investigation of the case.