Movies

Bryan Singer was shockingly candid and patient with our photog, who asked him a wide range of questions, from sexual assault allegations, to getting fired from "Bohemian Rhapsody" to allegations involving an actor he made famous -- Kevin Spacey.

We got Singer Thursday coming out of Mel's Drive-In in WeHo and started the conversation by asking about getting 86'd from the flick about Freddie Mercury and Queen. He says at first the firing had nothing to do with the various sexual assault allegations. He says he never got a straight answer from the studio, but a few minutes later certainly suggests the firing was connected to the allegations, saying the studio wouldn't offer a public explanation because "the reason would be, in my opinion, inaccurate and embarrassing."

As for Kevin Spacey, he says actor Gabriel Byrne is just dead wrong when he says "The Usual Suspects" was shut down for a time because of Spacey's behavior. But, when our photog asked if he'd work with Spacey again, Singer said it was a "loaded question."

Carrie Fisher's dog was such an adorable companion on the set of 'Last Jedi' it was only a matter of time until the 'Star Wars' flick paid homage to him.

'Last Jedi' director Rian Johnson was at LAX Thursday and he tells our guy exactly why Gary the Dog inspired a character in the highly-anticipated movie. It's easy to see how Gary's likeness charmed his way onto the big screen ... he had us here, here and here.

Rian swears he's told no one about the plot points ... but Ram Bergman confesses he spilled the beans here and there.

Ryan Reynolds playing Pikachu gets a big ole stamp of approval from one of the biggest stars in the Pokemon universe.

Veronica Taylor voiced Pokemon trainer, Ash, for 8 seasons of the animated show, and has a hard time wrapping her brain around a live-action Pikachu -- but she told us Ryan has the skills to pull it off.

Bonus for Ryan: She says taking on the "Detective Pikachu" role means more than a fat paycheck -- it's gonna pay off for his kids on the playground.

As for which will reign supreme -- cartoon or the movie? Veronica tried to play it down the middle, but you can tell where her heart is.

7:15 PM PT -- Singer's lawyer, Andrew Brettler, had some additional comments for TMZ ... "Bryan categorically denies these allegations and will vehemently defend this lawsuit to the very end ... When Sanchez-Guzman filed for bankruptcy only a few years ago, he failed to disclose this alleged claim when he was supposed to identify all of his assets, but conveniently, now that the bankruptcy court discharged all of his debts, he is able to recall the alleged events."

Brettler adds, "The attorney behind this lawsuit is the same lawyer who represented Michael Egan, the convicted felon who sued Bryan Singer in 2014. In the end, Egan was forced to dismiss that case once the facts came out and his story completely fell apart."

Famed director Bryan Singer is being sued for allegedly forcing a 17-year-old boy to perform oral sex on him and then raping him, but Singer categorically denies the allegations.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Singer was on a yacht in the Seattle area back in 2003 ... a yacht owned by wealthy tech investor, Lester Waters. The suit claims it was a party populated by young gay males, including the plaintiff, Cesar Sanchez-Guzman.

The suit claims Singer offered to take Guzman, who was 17 at the time, on a tour of the yacht. When they got to one of the rooms, the suit alleges Singer thrust his body on Guzman, forced him to the floor, shoved Guzman's face against his crotch and demanded he perform oral sex.

The suit claims Singer pulled out his penis, smacked Guzman in the face with it and forced it into his mouth. Guzman claims he pleaded with Singer to stop, but he kept going ... causing him to choke.

The suit goes on to allege Singer then forcibly performed oral sex on Guzman. Guzman says he again pleaded with Singer to stop, to no avail. He says Singer then forcibly anally penetrated him, all while ignoring Guzman's pleas.

The suit, filed by attorney Jeff Herman, claims Singer later approached Guzman, said he was a powerful Hollywood producer and he could help Guzman get into acting as long as he kept silent. Guzman says Singer warned him no one would believe him, and Singer could hire people to ruin his reputation.

Guzman says he suffered emotional distress, mental anguish, and physical and mental pain.

The raging L.A. wildfires have brought several Hollywood productions to a screeching halt ... and there's no end in sight.

We're told fires across Southern California -- from Bel-Air and Malibu to Ventura and the San Fernando Valley -- have shut down FOX's 'Last Man on Earth' in Chatsworth, Bravo's "Flipping Out" in Encino and Amazon's "Goliath" in Griffith Park ... just to name a few.

Several commercials and marketing campaigns have also been affected -- from a Chevy commercial set to shoot in the Angeles National Forest to photo shoots for Subaru and luxury retailer Lord & Taylor.

The halt comes on the heels of "S.W.A.T." and "Westworld" shutting down.

Sources at Film L.A. tell us none of the sets have been damaged and production halt is out of precaution. It's unclear when filming resumes because it'll depend on the fire's intensity, containment and aftermath. This, of course, pales in comparison to homes lost and hundreds of thousands forced to evacuate.

Talk about a sight for sore eyes ... it's Lindsay Lohan back in the U.S. of A!

We ran into LiLo leaving an Xmas party Wednesday night in NYC, and asked if she'd ever move back to the States after a LONG hiatus overseas ... where she's been for a while now. She's currently living in Dubai.

Lindsay says she'd consider coming home -- but not for the reason you'd expect.

Reese Witherspoon got a lot of accolades for producing "Gone Girl," and now she's got a lawsuit.

Leslie Weller claims she wrote a screenplay called "Out of the Blue" back in 2005. She sent a copy to a script consultant and claims that set the wheels in motion for someone to jack her work. She says the book "Gone Girl" which came out in 2012 is a rip off of her screenplay.

Weller claims a bunch of similarities ... they both focus on a married couple's relationship where the husband and wife are slowly drifting apart. They both contain a key twist where the wife is not the nice, normal, and somewhat naive housewife and is in fact a psychopath who sets up her husband.

Weller goes on ... both her screenplay and the novel are structured in the same way -- first, everyone sympathizes with the wife, and then you start to despise the husband, but things turn and by the end, you despise them both.

And she says both her work and "Gone Girl" feature a scene with a hammer that leads you to believe the husband might hurt the wife.

John Travolta's "Gotti" biopic wasn't thrown to the wolves by Lionsgate Premiere, but instead bought out by a group that plans on distributing it to the masses, TMZ has learned.

One of the film's executive producers, Keya Morgan, tells TMZ the "Gotti" project was originally supposed to be distributed by Lionsgate Premiere ... a branch of the company that handles smaller, niche releases.

Morgan says his team believes the movie could do gangbusters in wide release and he even believes Travolta could end up with some hardware on his mantle.

We're told the original distro contract featured a buyback clause, so Morgan and others wired $10 million to prove to LGP they meant business and the company forked over the release rights. Morgan says LGP will profit big-time when the movie comes out.

Tom Selleck's Emmy-winning "Magnum, P.I." co-star, John Hillerman, died from heart disease ... TMZ has learned.

A spokesperson at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences in Texas tells us Hillerman had hypertensive arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease which proved fatal. We're told he also had complications due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as well as congestive heart failure.

John played Higgins -- Selleck's condescending, yet lovable, landlord on the '80s hit TV show.

As we reported, he died at his home in Houston last month. He was 84.

Add the entertainment industry to the list of things LeBron James is dominating ... 'cause one big-time producer says the King has already earned the title of Hollywood mogul!

TMZ Sports spoke with Morgan Spurlock (the "Super Size Me" guy) about working with LBJ on a new docu-series about the NBA superstar's family foundation's "I Promise School" for troubled youth in Akron, Ohio ... and Spurlock says he's totally pumped to share his story.

"What he does on the court is amazing, but what he's gonna do in that town is gonna change people's lives."

Check your kneecaps at the door -- Tonya Harding and Margot Robbie, the woman playing Tonya Harding, were hanging out together for the premiere of the Tonya biopic.

Margot and Tonya were face-to-face and even cheek-to-cheek at Tuesday night's "I, Tonya" event in Los Angeles. Critics are already applauding Margot's performance, but more importantly Tonya herself seems to dig it. As we know, ya don't wanna be on her bad side.

Tonya and Margot met during filming -- the skater gave the actress a few tips. The duo was all smiles and posed for pics with the rest of the cast. Hard to tell who's more starstruck here.

Sorry, did we say struck?

Morgan Spurlock thinks President Trump's obsession with McDonald's has psychological overtones ... proof he's an unhappy man looking for any form of fulfillment.

We got the "Super Size Me" star at LAX, and he weighed in on Trump's documented fast food campaign diet -- which at least once contained an estimated 2,500-plus calories full of junk food ... courtesy of good ol' Mickey D's.

According to Morgan, it's only a matter of time until Trump's heart explodes. Fifty four percent of Americans think that's impossible, because it presumes the existence of such an organ.

Consider this case closed ... 'cause one of the biggest Boston sports superfans on the planet says Rob Gronkowski deserved to be suspended for his late hit on a Bills player on Sunday.

TMZ Sports got Matt Damon's reaction to Gronk getting benched for one game after a controversial hit on Tre'Davious White ... and while you can tell he didn't wanna admit it, Damon says it was worthy of a suspension.

Lionsgate is dropping John Travolta's upcoming movie -- a John Gotti biopic -- just 10 days before it's scheduled release date.

The studio did not give any explanation for selling "Gotti" back to the production company in the 11th hour. The Kevin Connolly directed flick was set to come out on Dec. 15. It also co-starred Travolta's real-life wife Kelly Preston.

Chris Pratt is giving credit where it's due -- even if it's the QB on one of his favorite team's conference rivals -- 'cause he says Carson Wentz is "a helluva player" ... but he's got someone else in mind to win MVP this season.

TMZ Sports spoke with Star-Lord -- a HUGE Seahawks fan -- about the tight race for the league's best player ... and while he gives the Eagles star props, he says Russell Wilson shouldn't be overlooked.

Pierce Brosnan is being sued for carelessly starting a fire that partially torched his neighbor's house.

A fire ignited at Pierce's Malibu home in 2015 and spread to his neighbor Alexander Haagen's house, which would not have been damaged but for the fact that Pierce failed to properly dispose of rags that were susceptible to spontaneous combustion.

Haagen got paid for the damage by his insurance company and now the insurance company has turned around and sued the former Bond star.

Brosnan's home was extensively damaged in the blaze.