Movies

Michael Blackson is all warmed up for what he says will be the high point of his career -- working on-camera with Eddie Murphy -- and says the "Coming to America" sequel already paired him with another legend.

MB was on Melrose Ave. Sunday when the TMZ Celebrity Tour saw him running errands ... in his Rolls-Royce, mind you. The superstar comedian recently returned from the "Coming to America 2" set in Atlanta, and he told us all about shooting scenes with Wesley Snipes.

Sorry, we gotta say it ... "Always bet on black(son)!"

Anyway, Michael says he's heading back to ATL in a couple weeks for the main event ... his scenes with Eddie. Just to give you an idea why Michael says it will be "the pinnacle" of his showbiz life -- we asked what's his favorite movie of all time.

Watch his response ... of course, it's one of Eddie's classics, which he rates higher than even "Scarface." Sorry, Al Pacino, Blackson's all about the laughs.

Pete Davidson's bumpy week appears to be going a lot smoother now that he's out of the States and in Italy with Margaret Qualley ... whom he's supposedly dating.

The 'SNL' star was leaving a hotel in Venice Sunday night alongside Margaret -- who's there for the Venice Film Festival, which debuted her new flick, "Seberg," Friday. Pete was at the screening too -- sitting behind Margaret -- but they didn't walk the red carpet together.

Well, they weren't shy stepping out together here as rumors swirl about their relationship. Word around town is they're an item -- have been for a minute now, apparently.

Remember, Pete's last flame, Kate Beckinsale, was spotted smooching another dude way back in June. So, if these two are, in fact, dating ... it would be safe to assume things got started right around then. Whether it's stand-up woes or women ... never a dull moment.

BTW, if Margaret looks familiar to you, it's probably 'cause you've seen her in few notable things over the past couple years or so -- including a prominent role in Tarantino's 'Once Upon a Time.' She's the Manson Family chick who invites Brad Pitt to the ranch.

She was also in HBO's "The Leftovers" in 2017 -- playing Justin Theroux's daughter -- and she was recently nominated for an Emmy for her role in FX's "Fosse/Verdon."

Kanye West's Sunday Service is on the road again ... this time he took the choir to good ol' Watts, and none other than Brad Pitt showed up to feel the good vibes.

Brad was among the large group of worshipers who surrounded Kanye and his choir Sunday in the parking lot of a church. We're told it was a spur-of-the-moment deal, and Brad's presence was a surprise to almost everyone who showed up.

Maybe it shouldn't be going forward, 'cause our sources tell us this is his second time coming.

You can see Brad rockin' his signature charcoal-colored cap. We're told the actor was mostly unbothered by fans as he blended in with the crowd. Yes, Brad Pitt can blend in in Watts.

Other VIPs for this week's Sunday Service included L.A. Reid, Adrienne Bailon, Kourtney, Khloe, Kendall and radio personality Big Boy.

Meanwhile, Kanye was doing his usual thing ... jamming out with the choir and the band on hand in the middle of the group. It looks like there was singing, dancing and, of course, a sermon was given at one point ... the whole church experience, which Ye's been taking around the country lately.

Looks like Kanye's recent Sunday Service road trip is becoming the norm. Remember, he was just in Dayton, OH last week with Kim and his kids ... where he helped Dave Chappelle put on a free concert and service for the grief-stricken community.

Orlando Bloom was allegedly hauling ass through a quiet neighborhood when he got busted for speeding ... and he had his young son in the car.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Orlando was caught going over 60 MPH in a 25 MPH zone around 9:30 PM last Friday night in his Porsche in the flats of Beverly Hills.

We're told Orlando zoomed past a motor unit, so police lit him up and pulled him over ... the 'Pirates of The Caribbean' star was not happy about getting cited, but he was cordial with cops throughout the stop and then sent on his way.

Orlando was with the 8-year-old son he shares with ex-wife Miranda Kerr. We're told his fiancee, Katy Perry, was not in the whip.

It still rings true ... motor cops don't care who you are -- generally.

Louie Anderson just got off the set of "Coming To America 2" ... and he says Eddie Murphy's sequel is so good, it's gonna join the three comma club!!!

We got Louie Thursday at LAX, coming back to L.A. after shooting his scenes in the ATL. Louie says he's now wrapped, but he couldn't stop talking about the flick.

Our photog pressed for specifics, but Louie was mum ... NDA's and such. He does, however, drop some hints about the plot and his character ... ya gotta hear what he says!!!

As we reported ... Eddie and Arsenio Hall were in full regalia recently as Prince Akeem and Reverend Brown ... and Louie sings the praises of the film's costume designer, Ruth E. Carter, predicting she's a shoo-in for another Academy Award.

Seriously, Louie says his time on set was the greatest experience of his acting career ... high praise from a guy who's been in Hollywood for 35 years!!!

It was like 1985 all over again when Dolph Lundgren and Carl Weathers came face-to-face in Venice Beach this week ... and we could only think one thing -- RUN, APOLLO!!!!!!

Remember, a juiced up Ivan Drago beat Apollo Creed to death during that exhibition bout in "Rocky IV" ... why didn't you throw in the damn towel, Rock!?!

But, here we are 34 years later ... Apollo died after secretly knocking up a woman who had a kid named Adonis ... and the rest is history!

There were rumors Carl Weathers was upset at Sylvester Stallone when the Rocky franchise came back with Creed ... and Apollo Creed wasn't a part of it -- but all of that seems to be overblown.

Of course, Lundren's Drago character DID come back to train his own gigantic Russian son in "Creed II" ... a movie that made more than $200 mil at the box office.

Carl is now 71, Dolph is 61 and they both still lift ... they ran into each other at the legendary Gold's gym in Venice!

Travis Scott is soaring to new heights, and Kylie Jenner is right by his side for support -- 2 handfuls worth, by the look of things.

The rapper's new Netflix documentary, 'Look Mom I Can Fly,' has arrived, and the couple arrived to the premiere in style Tuesday night at a Santa Monica Airport hangar.

The venue was the perfect spot to showcase their love, and the baller Netflix private jet they rode to the event. Oh yeah, and the documentary too.

Tuesday night's PDA, combined with their sick yacht vacay for her birthday -- proves any relationship troubles they had are a thing of the past.

The proud parents also brought their 18-month-old daughter, Stormi, along for the big event to up the cuteness factor. Mission accomplished.

Along with his family, several of Trav's famous hip-hop friends showed up for his film ... including Offset, Quavo and Swae Lee.

Leslie Jones is moving on from her role on "Saturday Night Live" ... because she's got a ton of other gigs coming on the horizon!!!

Sources close to the show tell TMZ ... Leslie is NOT returning for season 45 of 'SNL' and it's all her decision.

Fact is ... Leslie's got a lot more on her plate now, thanks in no small part to her time as one of the biggest stars on 'SNL' -- where her personality, wit and skits made her a hot commodity in Hollywood.

As we've reported ... Leslie's already filming the 'Coming to America' sequel with Eddie Murphy ... and even though he's going to host 'SNL' this season for the first time in 35 years, she won't be there to enjoy it as a cast member.

Also on deck for Leslie ... she's signed on with Netflix for a comedy special, and we're told she's got some more movie projects in the works.

It's the end of the road for Leslie and 'SNL' ... and she had an amazing run over 5 seasons ... but sometimes, the grass just looks greener elsewhere.

Jenna Dewan's Tesla window is smashed and her purse is gone after a brazen thief pulled off a burglary on the Sunset Strip in broad daylight ... and the whole thing was captured on video.

Dewan parked her SUV and ran some errands Monday while a couple paparazzi waited across the street for her to return. A woman -- dressed all in black -- then walked up to the vehicle, smashed the passenger side window, and grabbed a small purse from the passenger seat.

That small purse was a Saint Laurent worth $3,000.

Witnesses on the scene tell us the suspect had cased the street -- checking out multiple cars before deciding to hit Jenna's.

We're told the suspect hopped in a getaway vehicle -- a black Kia parked behind Jenna's -- with 2 other people.

When Jenna got back to her vehicle, she spoke to photogs about the break-in, and she was understandably frazzled. Still, she was thankful they got the whole incident on video.

Jenna called the cops and her boyfriend, Steve Kazee, showed up a short time later to help out.

The 'Ghostbusters' ain't afraid of no ghosts ... and whoever's driving their car ain't afraid of putting the pedal to the metal!!!

As we told you ... Jason Reitman's "Ghostbusters 2020" -- a direct sequel to the iconic '80s movies -- has been filming in Alberta, Canada, and the famous Ecto-1 car was spotted in action recently on the streets of a town called Drumheller.

Looks like it still has some excellent pickup power ... which is essential for busting ghosts in a hurry.

We've also obtained some shots of mechanics putting the car together at Shorty's garage in Crossfield. Filming's now wrapped in the tiny town, but some of the photos show it's moved to a rural area of the province ... to a spooky-looking house and barn.

We're told the farm structures were built just for the movie, and word in the barn possibly belongs to either the Peter Venkman or Raymond Stantz characters ... and the Ecto-1's been stored there waiting for a comeback for the past 30 years.

Worth the wait!!!

James Bond is back to handling his classic ride in classic 007 fashion -- which means somewhere an Aston Martin is getting driven fast and hard.

The next Bond flick -- "No Time to Die" -- is shooting right now in Matera, Italy, and on Sunday they tackled an intense car chase scene on the windy, narrow streets of Piazza San Pietro Caveoso.

What's rough about these stunts is how much rubber-to-the-road abuse this Aston Martin DB5 takes on set. Sure, it'll make for some great action sequences -- but the value of this gorgeous ride will be dwindled down to practically nothing after what it goes through here.

It's kinda funny ... the stuntman on set sorta looked like Daniel Craig at certain angles, but we HIGHLY doubt DC was behind the wheel for the kinda power steering you're seeing here. Unless he's gone full Tom Cruise, of course. Sometimes a guy's just gotta take the reins, but considering Daniel's already suffered an on-set injury ... pretty sure he tapped out for this stunt.

Aston Martin wasn't so lucky. If this car could speak, it would've bowed out of this scene, for sure!

Disney's new Tramp, in the upcoming live-action remake of "Lady and the Tramp," didn't slum it for too long before catching his big break ... we've learned the pup went from kill shelter to shelter before becoming a huge movie star.

Monte, the 2-year-old terrier mix had a rough start to life. He was on the verge of being euthanized at a kill shelter before the folks at HALO Animal Rescue in Phoenix scooped him up, saving him from death.

So, now's the terrier's big break ... Mark Forbes, the animal trainer for "Lady and the Tramp," was on the hunt for a scruffy canine, and Monte must have worked his magic at HALO because the trainer saw potential ... a potential movie star!!!

Forbes adopted Monte -- after the pooch spent just 7 days at HALO -- trained him well, and Disney execs fell in love ... i.e., Monte nailed the audition.

Good on the folks at HALO, because they wanted to make sure Monte didn't become one of the has-beens that litter the streets of Hollywood. The org made Forbes promise Monte would become a family pet once filming was over.

Forbes agreed, and he now lives with the fam and even has a newborn baby and pet raccoon to keep him company.

Monte's making his film debut on the new Disney+ streaming service this November ... and HALO hopes his story will lead to more adoptions for dogs in shelters across the globe.

Bradley Cooper is enjoying single-dad life -- just check out that stache! -- which means his daughter is absolutely enjoying dad-taking-me-to-Disneyland life!!!

The actor was out with 2-year-old, Lea, Friday at the Happiest Place on Earth, and the toddler brought that title to life with her grin as she and Brad went from ride to ride. Looks like he recruited other grown-ups for the trip too -- a possible nanny was tagging along.

No sign of Irina Shayk here though -- must not be her weekend with the kid.

Anyway, Lea tried her hand on a merry-go-round, the Story Book Land Canal Boats, Dumbo the Flying Elephant ... and, of course, a classic shoulder mount on pops himself.

Meanwhile, Brad and some of the adults he brought with him ended up park jumping at one point -- 'cause he was in the front car of the new Incredicoaster (formerly California Screamin') at California Adventure with a woman who was joining him and Lea for the day.

Lea's too small for that ride ... she  must've been hangin' at Pixar Park or something.

Lemme hear ya make a joyful noise -- Arsenio Hall is bringing back his iconic characters for "Coming to America 2" and we have pics of Rev. Brown ready for his sermon in the sequel!!!

Eddie Murphy and Arsenio look to be back in the swing of things as filming continues in Georgia. This is the first time we're seeing any of the celebs in full costume and makeup.

Of course, Arsenio famously played 4 different characters -- Semmi, Morris, Extremely Ugly Girl and Reverend Brown -- in the original film, and Friday he seemed to be shooting a scene as the right Rev. Note the grayer hair ... it's been 30 years, after all.

Eddie was on set keeping a watchful eye ... overseeing things in a black hoodie and sunglasses. No sign of Prince Akeem or Randy Watson and Sexual Chocolate just yet.

Tracy Morgan and Leslie Jones were also shooting scenes in full costume, along with another new addition, Luenell.

We're still waiting to see Michael Blackson get involved, but in the meantime ... check out the pics of everyone else in action.

The movie is expected to be released in December 2020.

Who says a Rolling Stones concert is only rock 'n' roll? Not Robert Downey Jr., who kicked off Thursday night's Rose Bowl concert by announcing the band has its own stone ... on Mars.

Iron Man himself hit the stage before Mick, Keith and the fellas rocked the crowd of 60,000 ... and shared an origin story about the legendary band and the exploration of the red planet.

Long story short, Mars and the band are now cosmically linked forever because NASA has named an iconic rock on the planet's surface ... "Rolling Stones Rock."

As Downey Jr. enthusiastically explained ... NASA's successful landing of the InSight spacecraft last year on Mars sent a golf ball-sized rock rolling a few feet across the surface -- and the rocket scientists came up with a (sorta?) clever name for it.

It might just be one small stone for man, but it's one giant leap for Stones' kind.

BTW ... 76-year-old Jagger looked like he was ready for space exploration himself, showing no signs of slowing after the heart valve procedure earlier this year, which delayed the tour.

After the show, photogs got this shot of the frontman with a device hanging next to his neck -- and while there's a rumor it's there to monitor his heart ... that just ain't so.

The late Stan Lee -- who co-created 'Spider-Man' -- would've been happy over the news that Sony pumped the brakes on giving Disney control of his character ... so says his daughter.

Sony's move to limit control over 'Spider-Man' -- and potentially remove the superhero entirely from Disney's Marvel Comic Universe -- is one that was necessary and something Stan would have appreciated ... so says his daughter, Joan Celia (JC) Lee.

ICYMI ... reports surfaced Tuesday that Sony and Disney reached a standstill in negotiating Spidey's future under Disney's umbrella, including any 'Avengers' spin-offs/sequels. Insiders told Deadline it was all about money ... Disney wanted a 50/50 stake in 'Spider-Man'-related revenue, and also wanted Marvel honcho Kevin Feige to be the guiding hand.

Welp, Sony was reportedly not too down with that -- they own the rights to 'Spider-Man,' and until now had partnered with Disney to crank out these last few films. That's all over now.

As for how the Lees feel about it, JC tells us ... "Marvel and Disney seeking total control of my father's creations must be checked and balanced by others who, while still seeking to profit, have genuine respect for Stan Lee and his legacy." AKA ... cameos don't cut it.

She goes on ... "Whether it's Sony or someone else's, the continued evolution of Stan's characters and his legacy deserves multiple points of view."

“When my father died, no one from Marvel or Disney reached out to me. From day one, they have commoditized my father’s work and never shown him or his legacy any respect or decency.”

JC's parting words ... "In the end, no one could have treated my father worse than Marvel and Disney's executives."

Ouch!!!