Movies

Margot Robbie has the chops and beauty to play Sharon Tate in a Quentin Tarantino movie about the Manson murders, but Jennifer Lawrence ... not so much, at least according to Sharon's sister.

Debra Tate told us if the Sharon role comes down to Margot or Jennifer ... Margot's the clear choice ... and it's not ONLY because of looks. Sounds like an unkind cut, but Debra explained why she's not taking a shot at J Law.

According to a report ... Tarantino's putting finishing touches on a script for the Manson project, and both actresses are in the running for roles, though it's not clear who they'd play.

Debra added she's yet to hear a peep from Tarantino ... which could be a problem because she owns the rights to her sister Sharon's image and likeness.

A 'Walking Dead' stuntman fell more than 20 feet onto a concrete floor ... suffering a serious head injury that sent him to the hospital.

John Bernecker was reportedly on set Wednesday in Georgia when the accident happened. It's unclear how he fell or if he was in the middle of shooting a scene -- but he had to be airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center where he's in ICU.

His girlfriend posted a Facebook message, saying ... "John deserves to be seen by every neorusurgeon and doctor there is until one of them sees the life we all know he has in him and bring him back to us... THIS ISNT FAIR."

John -- who specializes in high falls -- has also worked on "24: Legacy" and 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay.'

Shia LaBeouf was "incredibly professional," "well-prepared," "so nice" and "says hello to everyone on set" ... and that's why everyone connected with the production of the movie he's shooting in Savannah is shocked by Shia's arrest and police station racist rant.

Production sources for the movie, "The Peanut Butter Falcon" tell TMZ, Shia showed no signs of being drunk or hungover during the entire shoot, which has gone on for weeks. We're told some members of the cast and crew were "nervous" when shooting began because of various media reports about Shia's antics, but none of that behavior has surfaced on the set.

Our sources say the first anyone heard that there were problems was Saturday, after TMZ posted the story Shia was arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct.

We're told Shia returned to set on Monday and no one spoke of the arrest, except word got around it was "no big deal" and would be handled in court.

The shoot is at the halfway point, and no one on the cast and crew knows how the remainder will be affected by Shia's apology, which includes assurance he will be "actively taking steps" to deal with his addiction.

Shia LaBeouf isn't racist -- even though he said VERY racist things to cops -- we should just pass it off as a guy who's super high ... according to Rich the Kid.

We got the New York rapper Wednesday in Bev Hills, and he was clearly shocked by the words Shia chose when he verbally attacked Savannah cops.

Rich does not seem incensed at all -- not even a little -- and chops it up to drugs.

Conclusion ... not racist ... just a bad night.

Shia LaBeouf just apologized for the events leading to his arrest and the racist rant at the police station, saying he believes he's hit bottom and is taking steps to get his addiction under control.

Shia says, "I am deeply ashamed of my behavior and make no excuses for it," adding, "My outright disrespect for authority is problematic to say the least, and completely destructive to say the worst."

Shia goes on ... "It is a new low. A low I hope is a bottom."

And then the actor says what has become obvious ... "I have been struggling with addiction publicly for too long, and I am actively taking steps toward securing my sobriety and hope I can be forgiven for my mistakes."

Sources connected to the production of the movie he's shooting in Savannah tell us, Shia was back on the set Monday and has been shooting ever since. It's unclear if this statement will affect production ... in other words, whether he's going to rehab.

Fatherhood's been kind to George Clooney so far ... as in he doesn't look stressed, sleep-deprived or like he's put on a few extra new daddy lbs.

George and Amal were out having dinner with friends Tuesday on Lake Como, Italy and they're the poster children ... for pissing off all other new parents of twins. The Clooneys were without Elle and Alexander and seemed vibrant and well rested.

George is tan with a fresh goatee, while Amal was glowing and smiling ear to ear. Not a bag under either of their eyes.

Still no peek at the little ones -- the twins were under cover upon arrival in Milan -- so looking at Mom and Dad will have to do. Bellissimo!

Dr. Dre is making his most powerful confession/apology for attacking journalist Dee Barnes back in the '90s, and imploring other men to keep their hands off women.

Dre faced the "dark cloud that follows" him during part 2 of HBO's documentary "The Defiant Ones." While the doc focuses on his success in the music biz, Dre admits he absolutely lost it on Barnes in 1991 at an L.A. nightclub.

He says, "I was out of my f**king mind at the time. I f**ked up. It's a major blemish on who I am as a man."

He's apologized publicly for the beating before, but to be honest -- that came right before "Straight Outta Compton" was released ... and many saw it as a PR move.

Gotta hand it to Shia LaBeouf ... the man isn't letting his weekend arrest keep him from getting his job done.

Shia was back onset of his movie, "The Peanut Butter Falcon," Monday in Savanna, GA ... looking like everything was aces. TMZ broke the story ... Shia was arrested Saturday morning for disorderly conduct, obstruction and public drunkenness.

Cops say it all started after Shia was rejected after asking someone for a cigarette. He was told to leave after swearing in front of women and kids.

The guy's got a habit of bouncing back. Unfortunately, he's also developed a habit of drunken arrests.

Carrie Fisher's most prized possessions are about to hit the auction block ... but behind the scenes there's a scramble because turns out some of the items weren't hers at all.

There's a lot of intrigue over what happened, so let's tell it like a movie:

SCENE 1: BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!! You can own a cherished memento of Carrie Fisher -- maybe even something from "Star Wars" -- if you open your wallet ... big. The auction page advertised "The Personal Property of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds."

SCENE 2: GOOD MORNING AMERICA. Carrie's bro, Todd, appears on the show last month to promote the auction and takes viewers on a tour of her home. He stops at a Yoda statue and refers to it as "her Yoda."

SCENE 3: FRIDAY, JULY 7th. Someone sends an email to TMZ, pointing out the Yoda was never owned by Carrie and was purchased by Todd at an auction in March, months after her death. That made us say, "Hmmmm."

SCENE 4: INTRIGUE. We contacted CGA, the company that was hired by the auction house -- Profiles in History -- to authenticate 20 action figures, which were labeled, "The Carrie Fisher Collection." Turns out, at least 4 of the action figures were not Carrie's and were also purchased at the "Yoda" auction. We're told CGA is now so concerned about authenticity they've asked to get all 20 items back for another look.

SCENE 5: OOPS. A rep for the auction house tells us they were always planning on selling separate items as "The Fisher Family Collection," in addition to items personally owned by Carrie and Debbie. That confused us, because items purchased at auction 3 months ago are not exactly part of the family.

SCENE 6: WHAT'S TO BECOME OF YODA? Relax, he'll stay put in the Fisher family. The auction rep tells us it's not going up for auction.

The auction will go down in September and a portion of the proceeds will go to charity.

The upcoming "Star Wars" Han Solo installment has gone through some changes, but one thing we know for sure ... Woody Harrelson will hang with Han and Chewbacca in the movie at some point.

In new pics from the set, obtained by TMZ, Harrelson's character Beckett meets up with Han Solo -- played by Alden Ehrenreich -- and Chewie in what looks like some sort of space station.

We're told these shots were taken during filming before Ron Howard took over as director, replacing Phil Lord and Chris Miller. You can also see Harrelson meeting with a female character ... possibly Emilia Clarke's?

The film -- a story of young Han Solo prior to the original 1977 'Star Wars' plot -- is expected to be released in May 2018.

Channing Tatum might wanna watch his back, there's another guy gunning for his role in the 'X-Men' spinoff, 'Gambit,' ... and dude's got a flashy stick.

Nick Bateman went viral last week with his own slick version of a 'Gambit' trailer -- but that video isn't all visual effects. We found out Nick's the real deal with that bo staff when we spotted him outside Playa Provisions in Playa del Rey, CA.

There's hope for Nick ... the film's been in the works for 3 years, and while Channing's the last name attached, they've yet to shoot a frame.

If he moves on to a new project ... you know who's waiting in the wings. With his stick.

Nelsan Ellis -- known for his role as Lafayette Reynolds on HBO's "True Blood" -- has died after complications from heart failure.

Ellis also appeared in "The Help," and starred in the TV show, "Elementary." He also appeared in the moves, "Get On Up" and "The Stanford Prison Experiment" ... and played Martin Luther King, Jr. in "Lee Daniels' The Butler."

HBO issued a statement saying Ellis will be dearly missed.

So far no word on the underlying problem that triggered the heart failure.

He leaves behind a son.

Ellis was 39.

Penthouse's notorious film, "Caligula," got into the wrong hands and is now being illegally hawked online ... according to a new suit.

Penthouse claims a New Jersey man, Jeremy Frommer, bought the contents of a storage locker at auction back in 2012 that contained the works of magazine founder Bob Guccione ... including items "Caligula" related.

According to docs ... Frommer formed a company called Guccione Collection with the intent of selling Bob's stuff -- including digital copies of the flick.

Problem is ... Penthouse claims it acquired all rights to the film in 2016, yet Frommer was hawking it on Vimeo as recently as May.

Penthouse wants Frommer to stop selling anything associated with "Caligula" ... and it wants any profits he made.

Joan Lee, the wife of Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee has died, according to a spokesperson for the Lee family.

The rep said Joan died Thursday morning surrounded by family. Joan reportedly suffered a stroke earlier this week and was hospitalized before passing away.

Stan and Joan got hitched back in 1947, and have been together ever since. They had 2 children together -- one of whom passed away shortly after birth.

Joan was a British hat model in her younger years, and met Stan when he went to her store to ask someone else out on a date. Joan, who was married, moved to Nevada with Stan to get a quickie divorce from her then-husband.

The couple would have celebrated their 70th anniversary in December. Joan was 93.

Faizon Love is getting off easy for his brutal beatdown of an airport valet ... as long as he's on his best behavior for a while.

The comedian and actor pled no contest to misdemeanor assault, and got a suspended sentence of 180 days in the county jail -- meaning that WILL be his punishment if he gets in trouble again over the next 2 years. He was also fined $500.

TMZ broke the story ... the "Couples Retreat" and "Elf" star absolutely manhandled the valet at Columbus International airport back in March.

Faizon claimed the guy spit on him ... though that's not clear in the video.

Jeremy Renner jacked up his arm during filming for a certain movie -- and even though he won't tell us exactly how or for which flick ... we think we've got it figured out.

We got Jeremy Wednesday at LAX, where his right arm was almost completely bandaged in some sort of sleeve, and a splint was on his left wrist. Of course, we asked what the hell happened?

He admits the injury happened at work a couple weeks ago, and considering "Avengers: Infinity War" seems to be the only live action movie he was filming then ... we're betting Hawkeye took the spill.