Movies

American actress Lindsay Sloane was 22 years old when she was cast as Big Red -- the captain cheerleader at Rancho Carne High School who tends to be bossy, full of herself and guilty of stealing cheers from other schools -- in the 2000 cheerleading film "Bring It On."

Lindsay shared the big screen with Kirsten Dunst as the new team captain, Torrance Shipman, Gabrielle Union as Torrance's rival cheer captain, Isis, Eliza Dushku as the new student and gymnast turned cheerleader, Missy Pantone and Jesse Bradford as the electric guitar player and Torrance's crush, Cliff Pantone.

Christian Slater's Florida home didn't last long ... selling way above asking price after just 3 days on the market!

Real estate sources tell TMZ the "Mr. Robot" actor sold his 4-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom pad in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood for $4.258 million ... which was 10% above the $3.950 million asking price.

The Italian-inspired home comes with all the bells and whistles, with an oversized primary suite with a balcony and a huge rooftop terrace. There's also a detached guest suite with an entertaining area, bedroom and full bathroom.

Of course, the backyard comes complete with a pool for the Florida heat.

Aaron Rodgers is going all-in on his Nicolas Cage obsession -- the superstar quarterback now has a bust of the actor's head in his locker ... and he showed it off to reporters on Tuesday.

38-year-old Rodgers was all smiles as he brought the Cage head down from the top shelf of his changing space to give a closer look ... chatting it up as folks in the crowd got their jokes off.

Some said the bust doesn't really resemble Cage ... but we gotta admit -- it looks pretty spot-on. Another joked there was a camera inside it ... and uh, yeah. Let's hope not??

The 4-time MVP's been really leaning into his inner Nicky C recently -- as we previously reported, he even showed up to Packers training camp fully dressed as the Cameron Poe character from "Con Air."

It's clear Rodgers is having a lot more fun at the start of this season -- something he says was a result of his use of the psychedelic ayahuasca two years ago.

Eli Manning and Brady Quinn never duked it out on the football field -- but the two are squaring off in a different arena -- debating the best football movies of all time ... and let's just say their picks ain't exactly shocking!

The two former NFL QB's caught up on the second episode of season 2 of "Eli's Places" (premieres Wednesday on ESPN+) ... and went back and forth about football movies they hold near and dear to their hearts.

Quinn said "Any Given Sunday" (starring Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, and Cameron Diaz) is high on his list, but the 1999 classic "Rudy" (featuring Sean Astin and Ned Beatty) would be "way up there" ... as Brady gestured way above his head.

Of course, "Rudy" was based on the true story of the University of Notre Dame walk-on Rudy Ruettiger, an undersized player who wasn't exactly the best athlete, but had incredible heart and work ethic.

Brady starred at Notre Dame ... albeit long after Ruettiger was on the team.

BQ also rattled off two Adam Sandler movies ... "The Waterboy" and "The Longest Yard."

It's hard to argue with any of Quinn's selections ... Rudy is considered by many one of the best few sports films ever made. His other picks, particularly "The Longest Yard," had a bunch of big stars like Chris Rock, Burt Reynolds, Nelly, Terry Crews, Michael Irvin, Bill Goldberg, Tracy Morgan, and Sandler.

But Eli, the two-time Super Bowl champ for the NY Giants, pushed back against Quinn's list ... saying the 1994 movie "Little Giants," starring Rick Moranis, was his fave.

Quinn didn't seem too impressed with Eli's pick ... saying Moranis gave a better performance in the iconic film, "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids."

FYI, it's not just Eli with his own show ... there's a diverse group of stars including Vince Carter, Abby Wambach, Ronda Rousey and David Ortiz who have their own "Places" show.

Anne Heche was trapped in her vehicle as fire quickly spread and onlookers worked desperately to get her out ... and the panic plays out in the 911 call from the scene.

The caller -- who appears to be a neighbor of the home Anne crashed into -- tells the dispatcher Anne's car went through the home "very fast." At first, it doesn't appear the caller is aware of the fact Anne is trapped in the car, but you can hear people yelling in the background making it clear that someone is in trouble.

The call gets much more desperate when smoke starts to surround the vehicle -- and the caller works to get a water hose to the crash scene.

You can start to hear sirens in the background as the caller states the smoke is getting really black and fire breaks out ... and there's more shouting in the background about someone being trapped.

TMZ broke the story, it was August 5 when Anne crashed into the home -- an event that put her in a coma and eventually killed her. Law enforcement sources told us the actress had cocaine and possibly fentanyl in her system at the time of the crash.

New video from the scene of Anne Heche's fiery car crash shows a house in shambles ... it looks like a bomb went off inside the home where Anne's car barreled through.

TMZ obtained this footage from the Los Angeles home Anne smashed into with her Mini Cooper, and you see firefighters examining the charred remnants, trying to piece together what happened.

After looking at the video, it's incredible the woman living in the home, Lynne Mishele, was not killed when Anne came plowing through.

We're told Lynne had just walked into another room to do some chores when the house was suddenly the scene of a scary crash ... and the area Lynne was in, fortunately, did not collapse or immediately catch fire, unlike other parts of her home.

While Lynne survived, we're told she's having a hard time dealing with the fallout ... suffering from physical and mental injuries.

Lynne has attorney Shawn Holley on her side to help with next steps, like handling insurance claims and helping pick up the pieces of her life.

Holley tells TMZ ... "I am only here to help Lynne go through the process of dealing with insurance companies so that she can start rebuilding her life. This was never about lawsuits or making money. She has lost everything and is so appreciative of all the love and support she has received."

We broke the story ... Anne was behind the wheel in a horrific car crash August 5 when she drove into a home, igniting a blaze. Anne was very badly burned in the accident and lost consciousness shortly after, never came out. She was declared brain dead Friday and taken off life support Sunday evening.

Ezra Miller is finally addressing what many have believed were significant mental health issues ... this after months of erratic behavior and run-ins with the law.

The 'Flash' star apologized Monday for their bizarre antics and confirmed they're getting help for some significant problems.

Ezra says, “Having recently gone through a time of intense crisis, I now understand that I am suffering complex mental health issues and have begun ongoing treatment."

Ezra goes on, “I want to apologize to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with my past behavior. I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life.”

Ezra has had a mountain of legal troubles of late ... getting arrested several times in Hawaii and Vermont.

Ezra's latest brush with law enforcement came just last week when they were accused of burglarizing a Stamford, VT, home, from which they allegedly swiped several bottles of booze.

And, back in April 2020 ... Ezra was seen on a viral video CHOKING a woman at a bar in Reykjavik, Iceland ... Ezra was not charged for that incident. Ezra's also been accused of keeping an 18-year-old away from their own family, and bringing them around the country.

Ezra was busted in Hawaii back in March after getting into it with bar patrons, and then with cops during transport to jail.

For the past couple of months, Ezra's team of agents and close friends has been trying to get the actor back on track, but nothing seemed to work.

Warner Bros., the studio producing the $200 million 'Flash' movie scheduled for release next June, has reportedly been encouraging Ezra to get help.

The FBI is wrong about Alec Baldwin pulling the trigger on the set of 'Rust' -- so says the actor's attorney, who thinks the Bureau's report is flawed.

Luke Nikas, AB's lawyer, gave his take to Fox News Monday -- this as Halyna Hutchins' death was officially deemed an accident the same day -- saying the feds are incorrect to conclude Alec pulled the trigger ... because the testing they did doesn't show that.

Nikas says, "The FBI report is being misconstrued." He adds, "The gun fired in testing only one time -- without having to pull the trigger -- when the hammer was pulled back and the gun broke in two different places. The FBI was unable to fire the gun in any prior test, even when pulling the trigger, because it was in such poor condition."

Essentially, Nikas seems to be suggesting either the report's findings are misrepresented -- seeing how they've only been reviewed/reported on by ABC -- or the FBI simply misstated what they actually did in the lab to get to the bottom of this. Either way, he claims it's bunk.

You'll recall ... the FBI, per ABC, said there was no way the gun Alec used went off without him pulling the trigger, as they tried firing it by just manipulating the hammer -- which is what Alec said he did. They insisted ... when the gun's working properly, that's impossible.

While it was unclear from ABC's report (and the language cited from the report) whether the FBI had actually tested the old revolver in question, Nikas appears to be implying they did.

Here's another thing ... Nikas says the FBI's report on the gun doesn't even matter, big picture, because the Santa Fe Medical Investigator's Office came back with its own pivotal finding over Halyna's death ... and they've officially deemed it an accident.

Nikas says, "The critical report is the one from the medical examiner, who concluded that this was a tragic accident. This is the third time the New Mexico authorities have found that Alec Baldwin had no authority or knowledge of the allegedly unsafe conditions on the set, that he was told by the person in charge of safety on the set that the gun was ‘cold,’ and believed the gun was safe."

All of these findings -- the FBI's and the medical investigator's -- have been sent off to New Mexico officials for further consideration. The D.A. has yet to make a decision on criminal charges.

Alec, of course, has already been dragged into court civilly ... but denied any responsibility.

Eric and Eliza Roberts had a frightening encounter with an intruder who apparently set his sights on her as she walked up her driveway in the dead of night.

Eliza tells us ... her daughter drove her to San Fernando Valley home Friday night at around 9 PM. Eliza got out of the car at the curb, said goodbye to her daughter and entered the code on her security gate. It opened and she walked up the long driveway to the home.

Just as Eliza walked inside, Eric walked outside and came face-to-face with the intruder, who was just feet from the front door.

The man looked at Eric and said, "I know you" ... presumably the guy recognized Eric from his work in film. Eric was taken aback and asked the guy why he was there. The man didn't give a clear answer and Eric was alarmed, telling the guy to beat it.

The man went back down the driveway in the dark, and Eric went inside. He and Eliza then realized the guy might still be lurking in the bushes so they called the cops.

Police arrived a short time later but there was no sign of the intruder.

Anne Heche's death came just before the release of her final movie, and the director tells us he's dedicating the film to her.

The film is "Wildfire: The Legend of The Cherokee Ghost Horse" ... director Eric Parkinson tells TMZ he's adding an "In Memoriam" as the movie's final shot, right before the final credits.

Eric tells us Anne was superb in the movie, which started filming back in 2019 before being delayed by the pandemic, and the entire cast and crew are devastated by her death.

Anne plays a rodeo trainer in the film, and Eric says during negotiations to hire her for the role, her agent cautioned she was not an experienced rider, so producers decided they needed a stunt double for some barrel racing scenes.

The plan for those riding scenes, we're told, was for Anne to slowly ride up on the horse and then cut to the stunt double ... but once they were on location in Oklahoma, Anne surprised everyone.

We're told Anne politely asked the stunt double to get off the horse, then climbed in the saddle and told Eric to roll ... and that's when she took off on the horse in a full gallop, executing the barrel turn and racing to the finish in record time.

Shocked, Eric says he went up to Anne and told her what her agent said about her not being an experienced rider ... to which Anne responded, "I'm not ... but my character is a champ!"

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are celebrating their marriage in style this weekend, TMZ has learned ... with a group of their closest peeps getting the invite to party with them.

Sources close to the couple tell us the two are inviting family and close friends to Ben's home in Georgia this weekend for the big bash -- unclear what the total headcount is, or which special guests might stop by.

We're told it can best be described as a big celebration for the two ... safe to say it'll be a blast for all in attendance.

As we reported, Ben and Jen picked the actor's Riceboro home as the spot for the big bash last month, which is located just an hour outside Savannah ... we were told Jen went right into party-planning mode soon after the wedding.

The 87-acre property was exactly where they were supposed to tie the knot 20 years ago when they were first engaged ... we learned everything was in place for their big day back then, before the couple decided to call off the engagement a couple years later.

Amber Heard is out with the old, in with the new when it comes to her legal representation -- scrapping a key attorney on her team ... and bringing in the big guns.

The actress, who is currently appealing the Johnny Depp verdict, announced Monday that she's hired the law firm Ballard Spahr as she ventures into an appellate court ... which she apparently thought warranted a fresh set of eyes to review the case as well as evidence.

The lead attorneys from the firm that are coming on ... David L. Axelrod (not the Obama/CNN guy) and Jay Ward Brown -- both of whom successfully defended the NYT against a defamation suit recently brought by Sarah Palin ... a First Amendment case, their specialty.

Amber is keeping Ben Rottenborn onboard with the addition of Axelrod and Brown -- but she is losing one lawyer ... Ms. Elaine Bredehoft, who was lead counsel in the trial. Her departure from the team isn't really explained beyond simply saying she's stepping down.

EB says it's the perfect time to "pass the baton" and that she's done her due diligence in making sure the new team is up to speed. Frankly, Elaine took a bit of a thrashing, metaphorically, during her representation -- that seems to be the consensus anyway.

As for the new boys ... DLA and JWB say, "We welcome the opportunity to represent Ms. Heard in this appeal as it is a case with important First Amendment implications for every America." They add they're confident the appellate court will interpret the law in their favor and clear AH's name.

A rep for Amber says, "When it comes to protecting the fundamental right of Freedom of Speech, we look at the jury’s decision -- to paraphrase a famous quote -- not 'as the beginning of the end, but merely the end of the beginning.' A different court warrants different representation, particularly as so much new evidence is now coming to light."

Bryce Dallas Howard claims she got the short end of the stick for the 'Jurassic World' trilogy, making far less money than Chris Pratt despite being co-leads ... but that didn't stop him from making sure they got equal pay outside their film contract.

Initial reports back in 2018 showed Chris took home $10M to Bryce's $8M for the sequel, "Fallen Kingdom" ... but Bryce says she was actually paid "so much less," than the reported estimate, in an interview with Insider.

Bryce says she was at a "great disadvantage" back in 2014 when negotiations began for the blockbuster series -- adding, "unfortunately, you have to sign up for three movies and so your deals are set."

Chris, however, was a bigger star than Bryce at the beginning of the trilogy, having already starred in "Guardians of the Galaxy."

But, she claims Chris fought for her outside their 3-movie deal ... telling her he'll handle the negotiation for her when it came to things like spin off games or theme park rides -- making sure they both walked away with equal pay.

American actress Nikki Blonsky was just 18 years old when she was cast as Tracy Turnblad -- the positive and optimistic high school student who does not necessarily fit in with the popular kids -- in the 2007 film 'Hairspray.'

Nikki shared the big screen with John Travolta as a laundry business owner and Tracy's mother, Edna Turnblad, Zac Efron as the talented and cocky lead male dancer, Link Larkin, Amanda Bynes as Tracy's best friend, Penny Lou Pingleton, and Queen Latifah as a radio DJ, Motormouth Maybelle.

Dwayne Johnson has comic nerds confused after suggesting it'd be wrong to include his DC character alongside another hero in the same movie ... without getting his own movie first.

The Rock revealed to Vanity Fair he did a little lobbying with WB to make sure 'Black Adam' would be its own standalone film before any potential blending with 'Shazam!' -- a separate character played by Zachary Levi, who Adam actually faces off with in the source material.

VF writes that Black Adam, played by Dwayne, was actually set to be in the first 'Shazam!' movie in 2019, as he was initially written into the script as the big bad opposite Levi.

The Rock says when he saw this, though, upon first being approached for the project ... he expressed his reservations -- recounting, "When the first draft of the movie came to us, it was a combination of Black Adam and Shazam: Two origin stories in one movie."

He adds, "Now that was the goal -- so it wasn’t a complete surprise. But when I read that, I just knew in my gut, 'We can’t make this movie like this. We would be doing Black Adam an incredible disservice.' It would’ve been fine for Shazam having two origin stories converge in one movie, but not good for Black Adam." Dwayne made some calls, and got his way.

DJ doesn't elaborate on why he thinks it'd be a disservice ... and that's where the DC fandom is kicking in. In their eyes, it makes complete sense to introduce Black Adam in a 'Shazam!' movie -- even from the get-go -- seeing how BA is literally a known nemesis.

That's not what the 'Shazam!' films have done thus far ... in both the OG/forthcoming sequel, there are other bad guys Shazam is fighting, although Black Adam has been teased. Eventually, they'll cross paths ... but critics think it's strange Dwayne insisted on having his outing to kickstart things. Frankly, a Carly Simon song is coming to mind for some over this.

The argument ... The Rock's ego might be showing by admitting he wanted the character to be bigger than WB had, perhaps, initially intended -- especially if he was going to play him.

In Dwayne's defense ... all he did was chirp up on what he thought would be best, and clearly Warner thought that was the right way to go -- seeing how they actually pivoted and did a whole 'Black Adam' flick like DJ suggested, which is coming out later this fall. And besides, it's all headed for a big mashup anyway down the line ... so who cares?

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett put on a united front as they stepped out in public together for the first time since the Oscars slap -- and hubby was leading the charge with a smile.

The couple was spotted leaving Nobu in Malibu Saturday afternoon, with what appeared to be handler trailing them. Will was ahead of Jada -- wearing a casual outfit and a cap -- who was following closely behind ... apparently grabbing a hold of his shirt or pants.

It looks like she might've been grabbing his hand in some of these shots ... but upon closer inspection, you can see she's got him by his clothing and letting him guide her to their car.

Eventually, they got in their vehicle and drove off together ... with WS in the driver's seat. Before that, though, Will actually flashed a peace sign to a spectator who called his name. So, yeah ... it appears he's maintaining a good mood -- this after his recent apology video.

You'll recall ... Will explained his actions that night, saying Jada's eye-roll did not fire him up and spur him to storm the stage -- it sounds like it was just built-up bad blood between the Smiths and Chris Rock that led to it ... plus some internal trauma Will has from his past.

He said he wanted to talk with Chris -- but noted CR hasn't taken him up on that ... and may not in the long run. In the meantime, Will's getting a move on with his life -- as is Jada.

The fact the dude is out and about in daylight -- in L.A., no less -- says a lot about where he is personally ... and that seems to be in a much better place.