Movies

Kenny Loggins is ready to ride into the "Danger Zone" again, but he doesn't necessarily want to do it alone.

Loggins recorded the classic "Top Gun" theme song back in the '80s and it was a monster hit. To put it into perspective the "Top Gun" soundtrack ended up being the best-selling soundtrack of 1986.

The sequel, called "Top Gun: Maverick," is shooting down in San Diego with Tom Cruise back in the pilot seat and, when we got Loggins at LAX Tuesday, he told us he'd put some feelers out for the 2.0 version of the song.

Loggins wouldn't reveal who he's got in mind, but gave a bunch of clues. He also says he's cool with them taking the reigns on the song.

Jerry Maren -- the world's last living 'Wizard of Oz' munchkin -- is now somewhere over the rainbow ... TMZ has learned.

We're told ... Jerry died over a week ago. His funeral was held over the weekend at Forest Lawn in Hollywood. The cause of death is unknown, but we're told he suffered from dementia. He passed away at a San Diego nursing care facility.

There were multiple reports he died back in March 2016 after a battle with pancreatic cancer ... but a close friend of Jerry's told us those reports were not true. Jerry still had a couple of years left in him.

Jerry had a bunch of small roles in Tinseltown ... but being a member of the Lollipop Guild was his most memorable.

Jerry was 98.

Tyrese just got slapped with a lawsuit for owing a ton of cash to American Express.

American Express sued the singer and, according to the docs obtained by TMZ, he owes an unpaid balance of $61,071.35.

TMZ broke the story ... Tyrese said he was having huge money problems back in November stemming from his ongoing feud with his ex-wife, Norma Gibson. Tyrese had filed docs claiming he pulls in $105,686 per month, but has monthly expenses of $107,576.

According to docs he filed at the time, Tyrese said he had nearly $900k in the bank and had real property worth close to $2 million.

Harvey Weinstein cracked a smile as he walked into court before pleading not guilty to rape and criminal sex act charges.

The disgraced movie mogul -- flanked by his attorneys -- entered his plea in a low, gravely voice Tuesday morning in an NYC court. He struck a serious tone throughout the hearing ... looking straight the entire time. He's free on $1 million bail.

As we reported ... Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced last week the grand jury handed up charges of rape in the first and third degrees, as well as committing a criminal sexual act in the first degree.

Vance said the indictment brings Weinstein "another step closer to accountability for the crimes of violence with which he is now charged."

Weinstein's lawyer, Ben Brafman, had previously said he thinks prosecutors have "unfairly denied access to critical information about this case."

Iran's dictator went off on Israel by calling it a "malignant cancerous tumor" ... but Israel took the pop culture route and responded with an EPIC "Mean Girls" GIF.

A Twitter account believed to belong to the Ayatollah tweeted to its nearly 500k followers, saying Iran's stance against Israel is the same as always. The Ayatollah spewed a bunch of political stuff -- we'll spare you the details -- but what caught our attention was the Embassy of Israel's official Twitter account clapping back.

BURRRRRRRRN!!! Dialing up the classic 2004 chick flick for the clapback heard 'round the world? Not something you see everyday. Politics. Gotta love it.

The Ayatollah doesn't have many fans in Hollywood. As we reported ... "Shahs of Sunset" star Reza Farahan wished death to the Iranian dictator and his family last month after the reality star shockingly said he agreed with Trump's decision to pull out of the Iranian nuclear deal.

Mark Chapman -- the guy who arguably saves Rose's life in "Titanic" when she grabs his whistle off his dead, frozen body -- was arrested for allegedly choking his girlfriend after she dumped him.

The incident went down back in March after Tara Pirnia says she ended their 5-year relationship. She also claims Mark -- same guy who lets Cal on the lifeboat with his pretend daughter as the Titanic's sinking -- flew into a violent rage after she asked him to delete intimate material of her on his cell phone ... this according to an affidavit from the Travis County Sheriff's and obtained by TMZ.

In the docs, Tara says Mark, who is 20 years her senior, threw her on the ground and used both hands to grab her around the neck and squeeze her throat. She claims he told her, "bitch f*** you, I want you dead."

Tara says she bit his hand and he let go. She says he moved to California the next day, but she reported the incident to cops because she fears he's going to kill her and then himself.

People usually say WTF gratuitously ... but in this case, WTF!!!

"Cruel Intentions" co-stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair went to a Pink Concert Friday night at The Forum in L.A. ... and it just doesn't seem real.

Sarah is 41 and Selma is 45, which just doesn't track with the pic.

The 2 women, who clearly coordinated their outfits, took their daughters to the concert.

11:25 AM PT -- Benjamin Brafman tells TMZ ... neither he nor his firm ever met with Thompson or any of the other women named in the suit. He says if Alex Spiro met with any of the women he did so on his own time, and not while working with him. Brafman also says Spiro never met with Weinstein while at his firm and had no connection with their representation of Weinstein.

Harvey Weinstein turned a woman's sales pitch into a full-on sexual assault -- which was captured on video -- and followed it up by raping her in his hotel room ... according to an explosive new class action lawsuit.

Melissa Thompson claims she had a meeting with Weinstein at his New York office in September 2011 to pitch her tech company's new video platform to use in the movie biz, but almost immediately he started harassing her. She says there's video evidence of this because her computer's video camera was on for the pitch.

According to the suit ... Weinstein at one point reached down and began caressing her leg and moved his hand under her dress and mumbled, "It's fun when you do this." Thompson claims she ignored it and carried on, fearing he would become angry and aggressive if she rebuffed him.

Thompson says she went to a follow-up meeting with Weinstein at the Tribeca Grand Hotel later that day hoping to secure the video deal, but the meeting quickly moved to his hotel room ... where he forced himself on her. She claims she escaped and went to the bathroom, but when she came out he was naked from the waist down.

According to the suit ... Weinstein tried to force her to perform oral sex on him but she refused, so then he pushed her flat on the bed and raped her. Thompson claims he then masturbated on the bed next to her ... then acted like nothing happened once he was finished.

Thompson claims she felt "dirty and ashamed."

Drake should NOT stoop down to Pusha T's level in their war of words, because it's not worth his bottom line ... so says Damon Wayans Jr., who also admits he's enjoying the HELL outta their beef.

We got Damon Thursday at LAX, and he had a strong take on Drake vs. Pusha. Specifically, whether Drake should fire back after Pusha's brutal diss track about Drake's ethnicity, his childhood and his alleged secret son.

He's confident Drake's got it in him to be just as savage ... IF he chooses to respond to Pusha's "Story of Adidon." However ... Damon says there are millions of reasons (or dollars) why it's not a good idea.

David Arquette is fed up with you damn haters, and tells TMZ Sports he's coming back to pro wrestling to shut up everyone who's been dissing his foray into the squared circle 20 years ago.

You might not remember ... but David was once WCW Heavyweight Champion (yes, it happened) back in 2000 as a story line to promote Arquette's movie "Ready To Rumble."

Fans hated it from the get-go, and it's been almost universally viewed as one of the absolute worst moments in professional wrestling history ever since.

David told our guy in NYC he's tired of the disrespect ... and is returning to the ring to clear his name.

"People have been giving me a hard time for 18 years and I'm sick of it."

Arquette says he's taking it seriously too, hiring a bevy of champion coaches to make him into a real deal LEGIT wrestler this time around so that the fans do the one thing he wants.

Maverick's back ... and the need for speed is real.

Tom Cruise was spotted casually riding solo on a motorcycle Wednesday afternoon on set of the "Top Gun" sequel -- "Top Gun: Maverick." Day one of filming went down at a military base in San Diego.

We also got a shot of one of the fighter jets that will presumably be used in the sequel to the hit 1986 action movie. Tom himself announced filming had begun by posting a teaser image with the tagline, "FEEL THE NEED."

Of course, the original had Cruise with costar Val Kilmer as Iceman, Anthony Edwards as Goose, Tom Skerritt as Viper and Kelly McGillis as Charlie.

So far the plot of the sequel's been kept under wraps and, other than Tom, no casting's been announced. We know this ... it's still Top Gun school, so there will definitely be fighter jets -- and we're absolutely positive any Goose scenes will have to be flashbacks. That was a helluva thing.

RIP Goose. Who's gonna play piano now?

Morgan Freeman's keeping his head down -- as he fights back against the sexual harassment allegations -- and focusing on his J-O-B ... making movies.

The actor was spotted on set of "The Poison Rose" Wednesday in Savannah, Georgia ... carrying on with filming his scenes the week after CNN reported multiple women are accusing him of sexual misconduct.

As we reported ... Freeman's lawyers lashed out at CNN, calling the story "the product of malicious intent, falsehoods, slight-of-hand, an absence of editorial control, and journalistic malpractice." CNN says it stands by its story.

Vin Diesel's definitely cool ... but not too cool to not go back to school.

The 'Fast & Furious' star returned to Hunter College of the City University of New York almost 30 years after he left the school to pursue his Hollywood dream ... proudly holding his honorary Ph.D on Wednesday as he gave the school's commencement speech in front of nearly 2,000 grads at Radio City Music Hall.

Vin's undoubtedly one of the college's most notable alumni -- but the nod's gotta go to Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. Vin credited his time at Hunter for helping him launch his career. The former English major wrote a screenplay and acted in that film, that ultimately caught the eye of Steven Spielberg. Steven then went on to write a part specifically for Vin in a little movie called "Saving Private Ryan."

Congrats, Vin!! Check that ... Dr. Diesel!!

Nancy Grace says Harvey Weinstein needs to stop bitchin' about not being able to get a fair trial because he's not a victim here.

We got the former prosecutor and current TV host Wednesday at LAX, where we asked what she made of Weinstein's legal team's concerns that they're not getting access to info needed to defend their client.

Nancy unloads on Weinstein, asking if he ever thought it was fair to all the women he allegedly sexually assaulted. But she makes an even more interesting point ... if O.J. was able to secure an unbiased trial in L.A., Weinstein shouldn't have any trouble in NYC.

Nancy says God help Weinstein if he takes the stand, and uses a Thanksgiving metaphor to describe what will go down.

6/1/18 5:10 PM PT -- It looks like the puppet wars are over -- Sesame Street just dismissed its lawsuit against producers of "The Happytime Murders" ... according to new legal docs.

Melissa McCarthy and her cast of raunchy puppets are free to keep using their "Sesame Street"-inspired tagline -- 'cause a judge says the 2 ideas are clearly not the same thing.

A judge in NYC handed down a ruling Wedenesday in favor of STX Productions -- which is producing McCarthy's "The Happytime Murders" -- saying the film's catchphrase, "No Sesame. All Street.," makes a blatant distinction to fans that this is NOT "Sesame Street."

As we reported ... Sesame Workshop is suing STX for allegedly infringing on their company name, and trashing their kid-friendly reputation with a not-so-kid-friendly flick.

Lawyers for "Sesame Street" reportedly tried saying that an older court case about a 1970s porn movie named "Debbie Does Dallas" being found to infringe on the Dallas Cowboys' good name supported their argument now ... but the judge shot that down, saying that flick's X-rated ... this one's R ... and there's a difference.

STX issued a statement through their pupper lawyer, Fred, Esq., saying ... "We fluffing love Sesame Street and we're obviously very pleased that the ruling reinforced what STX's intention was from the very beginning — to honor the heritage of The Jim Henson Company's previous award-winning creations while drawing a clear distinction between any Muppets or Sesame Street characters and the new world Brian Henson and team created."

Long story short ... ejaculating puppets walked away with a win on the street.

The people who manage Michael Jackson's estate say The Walt Disney Co. has some nerve for profiting off the tears of MJ's kids and stealing a bunch of its property ... all to make a shoddy TV special they claim never came close to documenting Michael's 'Last Days.'

The estate just sued The Walt Disney Co. claiming copyright infringement and saying it never had permission to use a bunch of its footage for its "The Last Days of Michael Jackson" TV special ... which premiered last week to more than 5.5 million viewers.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, the estate claims Disney's lawyers told them they were making a documentary, so use of the MJ clips was fair game. But the estate calls BS ... saying the special "did not focus on his last days ... rather it was simply a mediocre look back at Michael Jackson's life and entertainment career."

The estate goes on to claim Disney jacked a bunch of MJ's songs -- including recordings of "Billie Jean" and "Beat It." The estate says Disney even exploited MJ's kids when they aired Paris Jackson's heartbreaking remarks about her father at his 2009 memorial service. The estate says it's never licensed that footage for commercial use.

The estate says it was never approached by Disney about the making of the TV special, much less asked for permission to use its intellectual property. The estate says that's ironic since Disney goes to great lengths to protect its copyrighted characters ... citing how Disney once sued a couple on public assistance for $1 mil when they dressed up as an orange tiger and blue donkey that looked too close to Tigger and Eeyore.

Estate attorney Howard Weitzman tells us, "Can you imagine using Disney’s intellectual property – like Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, Star Wars, The Avengers, Toy Story, and so many other works – without asking Disney’s permission or getting a license? The Estate has no choice but to vigorously protect its intellectual property, which is the lifeblood of its business.”

The estate is suing for profits Disney made off the special and other damages. We've reached out to The Walt Disney Co., so far no word back.