Movies

Kevin Smith was stoked about surviving a massive heart attack for at least one good reason ... he was dying -- in a manner of speaking -- to see "Avengers: Infinity War."

We got the famed director leaving the 'Late Show' studio Wednesday in NYC where he went into gnarly detail about what triggered the heart attack he suffered in February. As we reported, Kevin said the doctor told him he had 100% blockage in his "widow-maker" artery.

Johnny Depp used and abused a couple of his security guards, then screwed them over on payday ... according to a new suit.

The now former bodyguards, Eugene Arreola and Miguel Sanchez, claim they took personal jobs with the actor in early 2016 after years of protecting him with another security company. According to the docs ... once they became members of his in-house security team ... he started taking advantage of them and putting them in compromising situations -- much more than typical bodyguard work.

The men allege this included driving vehicles with illegal drugs and open alcohol containers inside, monitoring unstable people on his crew, babysitting his kids ... and protecting Depp from himself due to his wild behavior.

For example, they claim they had to alert Depp at a nightclub of "illegal substances visible on his face and person while preventing onlookers from noticing Depp's condition."

The former guards also say they were subjected to a dangerous work environment -- like another security guard accidentally shooting himself in the leg -- and labor violations. And to make it all worse -- they weren't paid overtime and didn't get breaks to eat.

Arreola and Sanchez are suing Depp for the unpaid OT, wages, meal and rest breaks ... and want damages on top of that.

Ashley Judd's chances of landing a role on "Lord of the Rings" got torpedoed after she turned down Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual demands ... so she says in a new lawsuit.

The actress is suing the disgraced movie mogul for defamation and sexual harassment ... claiming he damaged her career by getting her blacklisted from movie roles -- including Peter Jackson's enormously successful franchise -- as retaliation for turning him down.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Judd claims Weinstein falsely told Jackson that she was a nightmare who should be avoided at all costs. Jackson's previously said Weinstein told him to blacklist certain female actresses, including Judd.

Ashley was one of the first women to go public about Weinstein's sexual misconduct. She had said she went to see Weinstein for a business meeting and he got sexually aggressive before she fled his hotel room.

In the suit, Judd says in a desperate attempt to escape, she engaged in a mock bargain with him, suggesting she would consider letting him touch her only if she won an Academy Award in one of his films. Weinstein said, "When you get nominated." She responded, "No, when I win," and left the room.

Judd's suing for damages and says she'll donate the money to charity.

Finn Wolfhard is turning his "Stranger Things" fame into a big payday at the movies, too.

The 15-year-old who plays Mike on 'Stranger' is one of the leads in "The Turning" -- a horror flick based on the classic novel "The Turn of the Screw" -- and he no longer works for cheap.

According to Finn's contract, which is filed in court because he's still a minor, he'll be hauling in $150k for his base salary. He's also got some sweet bonuses if it's a box office hit -- such as another $50k if the movie hauls in $50 million. He could make another $125k on top of that if revenues hit $70 million.

His little costar's not doing too bad either. Brooklynn Prince, who played the adorable little girl in "The Florida Project," is making $100k base salary for 'Turning.'

Her bonuses could add another $50k, too. Remember, Brooklynn's just 7 years old.

Don Cheadle fixed up a shack of a crib near Venice Beach into an architectural marvel in a matter of 4 years -- and now he's cleaned up unloading the place ... TMZ has learned.

The "House of Lies" actor's Marina del Rey home recently sold for about $2.4 million after listing it earlier this year around the same price. The twist ... he bought the original property in 2014 for less than $900k ... and completely rebuilt it into what you see now.

The vertically-inclined 2,400 sq. foot home has 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, with 10-foot high ceilings at the highest point in its two-story design. Originally, it was a mere bungalow at just 800 sq. ft. -- so Don and his wife, Bridgid Coulter, clearly did a number on the inside and out. It now features French oak floors, marble countertops and a roof deck for a sweet view. The listing agents are Rhonda Payne and James Coulter.

And now ... "Street Fighting Stories with Marlon Wayans!"

This time, Marlon is telling us all about the time someone picked a fight with UFC star Nick Diaz -- and it ended with VIOLENCE!

Marlon was leaving Catch in West Hollywood over the weekend -- where Nick Diaz had also been hanging out -- and it reminded Marlon about the one dumbass who tried to fight the Diaz Brothers in front of him.

"I said 'Brah, you f***ing with the wrong dude.' He goes 'F*** that bro. You don't know me. I'm gonna f*** [him up].'"

Marlon says he TRIED to warn the wannabe tough guy ... to no avail.

"Nick grabbed his ass ... Pop! Pop! Pop! Three elbows. Pop! Pop! Two knees. Fight was over. Blood everywhere."

Tiffany Haddish forgives TMZ ... we think.

Our photog caught Tiffany and her crew Sunday coming out of LAX, where he tried apologizing with a rose for not helping them load their luggage last weekend.

As you'll recall ... Tiffany railed on TMZ because our guy didn't offer a helping hand ... and Tiffany took that as a slight and lack of chivalry.

Now, it all seems to be water under a bridge. While there might've been confusion as to what exactly happened -- Tiffany ultimately accepted our cameraman's gesture.

She went on to post her own view of the interaction, and a caption that we'd like to think is a message of love. Happy to talk (and help) anytime, Tiff!

John Rambo, meet the guy who killed Osama bin Laden -- now play nice.

Ex-U.S. Navy Seal Robert O'Neill posted a photo Saturday of himself wearing a shirt from Sylvester Stallone's clothing store -- the Sly Stallone Shop -- featuring one of the actor's most iconic characters in an iconic shot ... Rambo taking his mug shot in 'First Blood.'

The American hero -- who's credited with firing the head shots that took down bin Laden -- also shouted out New York's finest in his caption, saying ... "The only guy with a better mugshot than me is Rocky! In the presence of badasses: Rambo and the NYPD!"

Funny enough, Sly's clothing IG account gave him some love back, re-posting his pic and saying ... "Truly an honor to have American hero @mchooyah Robert O’Neill wearing our Rambo mugshot shirt."

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson had a little shindig Saturday night to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary, and it was a must-attend for a bunch of celebs.

Check out the video ... Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Conan O'Brien, Martin Short and Jimmy Kimmel were among the guests our photog shot. We didn't get a shot of Obama or Oprah but we're told they were front and center.

LeBron James has two very big wins coming in the near future ... 'cause according to Chris "Kid" Reid, LBJ is going to kill it doing the new 'House Party' movie ... and raise the trophy as an NBA champ.

We got Kid leaving Craig's in L.A. and of course wanted to know what his take on LeBron's production company rebooting Kid 'N Play's classic teen comedy for a brand new audience.

"LeBron and his people are in control, so I trust them."

That's not the only thing Kid trusts LeBron with, because when we asked Chris if he thought Meek Mill's good mojo would lead the 76ers to an NBA title, he said nah 'cause LeBron's got that, too.

"LeBron all day. LeBron knows how to do the Kid 'N Play, so I'm always gonna roll with LeBron."

Kid ain't lying -- LeBron did the dance in a State Farm spot and nailed it.

As for his NBA prediction? Not so sure about that one ...

Richard Gere is the victim of an extortion plot by a small production company trying to strong-arm him out of half a million bucks ... according to a new suit.

Gere claims he entered into an agreement with Random Acts Entertainment in December 2009 to develop a movie based on the book, "Bones of the Master: A Buddhist Monk's Search for the Lost Heart of China" by George Crane.

According to the docs ... Gere planned to produce, direct and star in it, and the company would help with the screenplay. Gere claims he fronted Random Acts $17,500 to get the rights to the book ... which he never got back.

Gere says he decided to continue with the project anyway, but the company then turned in a "woefully inadequate" script. He claims instead of working through their creative differences, Random Acts issued an ultimatum -- move forward with the project as written ... or fork over $500,000, which Gere calls a corrupt extortion attempt.

Gere is now suing to get his $17,500 back and for a judge to rule that the book rights belong to him.

Dan Aykroyd's suddenly fired up to get the band back together, and this time his 'Blues Brothers' reboot could have 2 of the hottest women in hip-hop and comedy ... if Dan and our camera guy get their way.

We got Elwood Blues leaving e. baldi restaurant in Bev Hills, and asked him about his rumored "Soul Sisters" project. He excitedly told us he's making serious progress, and then our guy dropped the casting gem on him.

Cardi B and Tiffany Haddish! You gotta see Dan's reaction -- he's down with it. In fact, he even made our photog an offer he probably shouldn't refuse.

Dennis and Kimberly Quaid are officially divorced, and their prized assets will be split jointly -- their twins.

Under the terms of the divorce, although they will share joint custody of their 10-year-old twins, she gets the lion's share of physical custody -- 75%.

Dennis will pay $13,750 a month in child support, but the amount goes up if he makes more than $1.3 mil in a single year.

As for spousal support, she's getting a lump sum -- a whopping $2 million. She gets another million bucks to make their property settlement agreement even steven.

As for who gets the pots and pans ... she keeps her 2014 Mercedes, he gets the 2007 Land Rover, the 2012 Mercedes and the 2013 Honda. He gets their pad in Austin, and they're splitting the proceeds from the sale of their family home.

All of the residuals from the movies Dennis made before their 2004 marriage are Dennis' sole property, and they split the residuals for movies he made after they got hitched.

Kimberly filed for divorce back in 2016 -- in fact, it was the second time she filed. She withdrew her first divorce petition back in 2012.

The former couple famously sued Cedars-Sinai Medical Center over a bungled procedure that almost killed their twins shortly after they were born. They were given a massive overdose of Heparin. The Quaids settled with Cedars.

Amy Schumer's spent the week in the hospital with a kidney infection, and she's still in recovery mode ... which means her job is taking a back seat for now.

The comedian says she was supposed to travel to London for the opening of her new movie, "I Feel Pretty" ... but doctors put the kibosh on that plan so she can focus on her health. She says the infection kept her laid up for 5 days, so makes sense she'd choose recovery time instead of overseas travel.

Schumer's giving props to her doctors and nurses for taking care of her, and thanking her family -- including her still brand new husband, Chris Fischer -- for being by her side.

Hawkeye, aka Jeremy Renner, is M.I.A in the new "Avengers: Infinity War" film, so instead of hitting the press circuit this week with the rest of the crew, Renner did some serious shopping.

Jeremy hit up a Hollywood grocery store Thursday, the day the film hit theaters, and his cart had all the makings of a chill night ... beer, chairs and a few bottles of booze.

Dude should relax all he can because Hawkeye's back in the next 'Avengers' film out in 2019.

For all the non-Marvel nerds out there ... Hawkeye and Ant-Man aren't in the current film, but they haven't been killed off or anything. Story goes ... they took a deal with the government to sit this fight out.

Ronda Rousey believes it is a privilege to hear her speak ... and she means it.

The UFC legend was promoting her movie "Mile 22" when she was asked why she's dialed back her interactions with reporters ... something she didn't used to do when her UFC career was on the rise.

"We live in an age of trial by Twitter,” Rousey said ... "What is really gained by stating opinion on anything? It whittles people down. It gets cut and pasted 10 times and it’s in a headline."

"Why should I talk? I believe hearing me speak is a privilege, and it’s a privilege that’s been abused, so why not revoke it from everyone?"

"I don’t believe public criticism beating you down is the right thing to do.”

Rousey also offered an explanation for why her 2 final UFC losses were so hard for her to handle publicly.