Movies

Hurricane Florence has the Wright Brothers on the run -- or at least the memorial dedicated to them -- and Richard Gere's favorite beachside inn is also bracing for the worst.

The Wright Bros. National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, NC will be shut down to the public this week as Florence -- currently a category 4 storm -- barrels toward the Carolinas and Virginia. The memorial sits on the Outer Banks, and is directly in the hurricane's path ... so on Monday they shut down all operations to, as they say, batten down the hatches.

Florence's timing really sucks -- the memorial was supposed to get a replica Monday of the 1st plane Orville and Wilbur flew. That delivery was postponed for fear it would be damaged when the storm hits.

Nicholas Sparks fans will recognize the Outer Banks Inn from 2008's "Nights in Rodanthe." Yes, the place where Gere and Diane Lane banged a lot. The owners, Ben and Debbie Huss, are boarding up and getting outta Dodge -- but tell us they expect their famous house to mostly hold up to Florence.

That's a tall order with winds expected to reach up to 156 mph.

Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation is being sued by 2 New Orleans residents who claim the organization built and sold defective homes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The plaintiffs live in NOLA's Lower Ninth Ward, and according to the suit ... Make It Right was aware of several repairs that needed to be made on the homes, but never alerted the homeowners. They claim this deprived them of their rights to pursue legal action.

Pitt formed the charity in 2007 to help residents find new homes after Katrina.

NBC News says the residents are suing Make It Right and Brad, personally, for unfair trade practices, breach of contract and fraud.

Burt Reynolds' fans have a huge case of #FlashbackFriday -- not to mention #ThrowbackThursday -- when it comes to the legend's classic flicks, because Amazon's numbers are astonishing.

The Oscar nominee -- who died of a heart attack Thursday -- has the number 2 movie on Amazon's Movers & Shakers list as of Friday afternoon with "Smokey and the Bandit." It was previously at No. 5,910. The jump is a whopping 295,400% increase!

There was also a dramatic spike for "Hooper," which now sits at #3 ... while "Deliverance" is #6.

Even Burt's book is burning up the charts ... his memoir, "But Enough About Me: A Memoir," is No. 1 on the books list. That's an 80,537% increase.

You knew Burt Reynolds was a badass ... but did you know he once lit up Brian Bosworth for NOT hitting him hard enough?!?!

It's true ... Bill Romanowski tells TMZ Sports the late Burt once got so mad that The Boz wasn't going all out for a movie scene -- HE CHUCKED A FOOTBALL AT HIS HEAD!!

It all went down on the set of "The Longest Yard" (the 2005 one) ... where Romo tells us the then 69-year-old Reynolds had to beg one of the best linebackers in college football history to run him over for the movie's crucial scene.

"He's got to go in the game, pick up a fumble, run around the left side of the offense and jump into the endzone," Romanowski says of Burt.

"And, guess who has to tackle him? Brian Bosworth!"

You gotta hear Romo tell the tale from here ... so watch the video now.

As for the end result?? It came out great -- like everything Burt Reynolds did.

Hundreds of Burt Reynolds look-alikes will flood the streets of Long Island this month for a car show honoring the late actor ... and the best impersonator wins a big ass trophy!!!

We're told Burt was invited to the Motor Mania Long Island Auto Expo, but he couldn't travel because of his health. After the actor passed away Thursday of a heart attack, the auto show organizers decided they'll honor Burt with a theme and costume contest.

Butch Yamali, the owner of the expo, tells us he saw Burt in May at a Florida auction for the Trans Am from Burt's personal collection, and that's when he extended the invite. Burt initially said yes.

Now, the car show has its first ever theme and costume contest in honor of Burt.

Cowboy hats, mustaches, red shirts and Trans Ams will be out in full force as event organizers search for the best Reynolds impersonator from his role in "Smokey and the Bandit."

There's another trophy for the car that's closest to the 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from the film.

We're told the car show is reaching out to Burt's family and living 'Bandit' castmembers for personal invites.

The annual show, which usually draws 10k-15k people, is set for September 29-30.

The Florida State University football team will pay tribute to one of their own -- Burt Reynolds -- by wearing special helmet decals this weekend honoring the late actor.

Reynolds played halfback at FSU back in the '50s -- and was a proud supporter of the Seminoles football team over the years.

The 82-year-old actor died Thursday after suffering a heart attack -- and when FSU takes the field on Saturday against the Samford Bulldogs in Tallahassee ... they'll all be sporting some sort of BW-inspired decal near the legendary arrowhead.

Reynolds was a scholarship athlete at FSU -- and in his 1st season with the Noles, ran for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns on 16 carries.

He was supposed to blow up his next season -- but a couple of knee injuries (along with a bad car accident) slowed him down.

Cuba Gooding Jr. doesn't know what Burt Reynolds' mustache would've said if it could talked ... but he knows it had some sweet moves.

We got Cuba Thursday night at the NYC Italian joint Bice Cucina ... where the actor remembered his former costar. They were in the 2006 flick "End Game" together. Cuba tells us how he found out Burt had died ... comparing it to getting sucker punched. Ditto.

Cuba paid tribute to Burt as the OG international star who was an awesome storyteller. Then, there's the mustache. Cuba goes into storytelling mode himself to describe one of the all-time great 'staches.

As we reported, Burt died of a heart attack Thursday morning at a hospital in Florida.

Burt Reynolds was able to live out his final years at his longtime Florida estate thanks to a loving landlord who helped him out of a financial crisis.

Here's the backstory -- Burt sold his home in 2015 to his friend and neighbor Charles Modica after years of money woes and a decade-long struggle to unload it, but Charles allowed him to stay there for the rest of his life ... similar to Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion.

Modica tells TMZ ... he bought Burt's pad with the intention of letting the legendary actor continue living there, because moving would have been traumatic. Modica says he always respected Reynolds for all the good he did in Florida, so he charged him relatives pennies in rent. In fact, Modica says he doesn't even recall the exact amount -- his accountant handles it -- but it was a super small sum.

As for the waterfront property ... Charles has no plans to sell. Fact is, it's a good investment.

Burt bought the estate back in 1980 for $700k, and later lived there with his then-wife, Loni Anderson. He put it on the market in 2005, and it was priced all over the place -- as high as $15 million -- before he sold it in 2015 to Modica for $3.3 mil. Modica says it's now worth somewhere between $4 and $5 mil.

The 3.4-acre estate has a 12,000 sq. ft. main house and a 2-bed guesthouse, a movie theater, a pool decorated with the FSU logo, a dock on the water and a helicopter landing pad.

As we reported ... Reynolds died of a heart attack Thursday in Florida. He was 82.

1:52 PM PT -- In the 911 call -- obtained by TMZ -- a male caller tells emergency operators Reynolds is experiencing trouble breathing and chest pain. The caller also says Reynolds is awake but not answering questions. The call was made just after noon on Thursday.

12:54 PM PT -- Burt was cast in Quentin Tarantino's Charles Manson film, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," but a source connected to the project tells us Burt hadn't shot his scenes yet.

He was supposed to shoot for 2 days, playing George Spahn ... the owner of the ranch where the Manson Family lived and plotted the Tate-LaBianca murders. Back in June, he showed up for a table read in Hollywood with the rest of the cast, including Brad Pitt.

Burt Reynolds died of a heart attack Thursday morning at a hospital in Florida, according to multiple reports.

Reynolds was 82.

Burt was transported to a Florida hospital after going into cardiac arrest at home. His family was by his side when he passed.

Reynolds had heart problems for years -- he underwent major heart surgery in February 2010. His rep tells us Burt had appeared extremely frail recently, and was in and out of the hospital.

Burt was a star in movies and on TV -- appearing in classics like "Smokey and the Bandit," "Boogie Nights" and "The Cannonball Run."

Reynolds was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role as porn director Jack Horner in "Boogie Nights" in 1997. He won the Golden Globe that year.

He's survived by his son.

Reynolds was famously married to Loni Anderson in 1988 -- but they split in 1993 in one of the nastiest breakups in Hollywood history.

He accused her of sleeping around. She accused him of physical brutality. And there were drug allegations and lots of other things. The 5-year marriage officially ended in 1993, when Burt agreed to pay Loni $234,794.13.

Reynolds refused to pay off the full bill for years -- but finally caved in 2015 ... 22 years after the divorce.

Reynolds was a star college football player -- who played at Florida State. His roommate was Lee Corso.

One of the biggest moments of Burt's career was when he posed naked for Cosmo magazine in 1972 on a bearskin rug. The photo became a national sensation. However, Burt expressed regrets about it later, saying, "It was really stupid. I don't know what I was thinking. I really wish I hadn't done that."

Burt was the #1 box office attraction for 5 solid years back in the '70s -- starring alongside iconic actresses like Jill Clayburgh, Dolly Parton, Goldie Hawn and Julie Andrews.

Did you know ... ESPN's Lee Corso was Burt Reynolds' college roommate back in the day?

It's true -- the two lived together at Florida State when Burt was a member of the Seminoles football team. And, according to Lee, Burt would often help him out with the ladies!

Lee used to tell the story when talking to college athletes back in the day -- and recounted it at a football event back in 2007.

"We would send him out for bait," Corso said ... "He would go to the student union and bring two girls back. One was gorgeous and the other one was ugly."

"He always took the beautiful girl ... and gave me the ugly one."

"But, you know what I found out early? Burt Reynolds' ugly girlfriends were better than anything I could get on my own."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts says it's reconsidering rolling out a new "popular" category for the Oscars, and putting the move on ice for 2019 ... and probably forever.

The AMPA said Thursday that the bemoaned category of "Best Achievement in Popular Film" merits further study ... and it won't be happening for the 2019 award show. As you'll recall ... the backlash to the announcement last month was swift and fierce, with cinephiles calling it the death of the Academy Awards and simply a way to pander to ratings.

The Academy's CEO, Dawn Hudson, says ... "There has been a wide range of reactions to the introduction of a new award, and we recognize the need for further discussion with our members." She continued, "We have made changes to the Oscars over the years—including this year—and we will continue to evolve while also respecting the incredible legacy of the last 90 years."

We'll take this a step further and predict this means the "popular" category will never see the light of day, especially after people stop talking about it when the 2019 show's over. Once the buzz dies down, our money's on the Academy never moving to reinstate it.

The Department of Justice is charging a North Korean spy for the infamous Sony hacking that sent shock waves around Hollywood.

The DOJ charged Park Jin Hyok as the mastermind behind the 2014 cyber attack that exposed tons of the studio's internal emails. It ultimately led to the ousting of several of Sony's top executives.

The attack also came just before the studio's release of "The Interview" -- the satirical flick depicting Seth Rogen and James Franco's characters' plot to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. A group that took credit, at the time, for the hacking made terroristic threats against theaters, and Sony blinked ... yanking the movie from a big screen release.

According to the DOJ ... Hyok conducted the hack on behalf of North Korea's spy agency. The FBI first pointed the finger at N. Korea back in 2014, but the DOJ charges make it official ... allegedly.

For hacking Sony and targeting others, Park was charged with 1 count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse and 1 count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Of course, they have to catch him first.

The hack wiped data from thousands of Sony computers while also revealing super sensitive information ... like the fact Seth earned $2 million more than James for the same movie. Another email exposed a famed producer who bad mouthed Angelina Jolie.

The guy who'll soon be playing Freddie Mercury in a theater near you honored the iconic singer in the best way possible on what would've been Freddie's 72nd birthday.

Rami Malek was with a crew of pals singing his heart out at Wednesday night's Queen concert in Las Vegas. Of course, Rami's playing Freddie in "Bohemian Rhapsody," and he gave us a little preview with the way he rocked out in his seat to "We Are the Champions."

Based on how into the show he was -- and how much he looks like Mercury on camera -- Rami might as well have hopped onstage himself to give Adam Lambert (Queen's current lead singer) a breather. The cast and crew were also spotted living it up at celeb hot spot Intrigue.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" drops later this fall, and it's already getting a ton of buzz for Rami's performance. Good to see he hasn't let go of the character even after filming.

Anthony Anderson will not face charges for allegedly assaulting a woman ... TMZ has learned.

Anderson was accused of the attack earlier this year when a woman went to the LAPD. The specifics of her claims were unclear, but were enough to trigger a police report and then have the case shipped off to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Law enforcement sources tell us the D.A.'s office rejected the case Friday, deciding not to charge him with anything because the woman refused to cooperate and there was not enough evidence to go forward.

Neither Kevin Spacey nor Steven Seagal will face charges for alleged sexual assaults that took place about 25 years ago ... TMZ has learned.

According to new legal docs ... the L.A. County D.A. declined to file charges in the cases against the actors for alleged incidents that took place in the early '90s.

In the Spacey case, a man claimed he was sexually assaulted in 1992, but the D.A. concluded it was well beyond the statute of limitations, and "Therefore, an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence is not warranted."

The D.A. made a similar conclusion for Seagal, who was accused of sexual assault by a woman in 1993 ... so he won't face charges either.

Orlando Bloom is living proof ... you don't have to give up on your body when you turn 40.

Orlando hit the waters of Malibu Saturday with a buddy as they enjoyed the last vestiges of summer.

The 41-year-old strolled the beach as his furry little poodle tagged along for the ride. Orlando also hit up the Malibu Chili Cook-Off, which was being held in a nearby field.

No sign of Katy Perry ... It's unclear if she and Orlando are still together. The last time we saw them together was back in July. The 2 were in London at a club and it seemed like a date, but again, they go for periods of time when they're not together ... or so it seems.

Orlando just wrapped a play, "Killer Joe," in London.