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Bradley Cooper's caught some flak for revealing that he doesn't allow chairs on his movie sets -- but as it turns out, he ain't alone ... whether it's rules for sitting or other bans.

You might've heard about this ... BC did a one-on-one interview with the great Spike Lee for Variety's "Directors on Directors" series -- and right out the gate, Brad said he's not a big chair guy when he's shooting a film. It also sounds like he doesn't allow others to be either.

As he says himself, he hates chairs on set ... and feels like they suck the energy out of an actor and out of the room in general. So, he kicks 'em to the curb -- and presumably makes just about everyone stand for the most part ... that, or they're relegated to apple boxes.

He also said he doesn't believe in the video village model -- where a director is watching the action from monitors at a distance -- and apparently likes to watch performances up close.

Spike seemed a little taken aback by his approach -- as was the rest of X/Twitter -- but come to find out, he's far from the only filmmaker who enforces stringent guidelines on set ... and even for the chair issue, he's in good company with Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder.

Anne Hathaway and RDJ have claimed Chris doesn't do chairs, and Snyder himself says there are no chairs allowed on his sets. So, it's not as crazy as it sounds ... just a choice.

Quentin Tarantino, meanwhile, is notorious for ixnaying cell phones while cameras are rolling -- and Martin Scorsese is said not to allow wristwatches as a way to "heighten immersion."

The point here is ... a lot of directors have weird little quirks and must-haves (or have-nots). In Brad's case, it sounds like he's just following the footsteps of greats before him when it comes to popping a squat.

Timothée Chalamet is on his way to #1 at the box office this weekend with his new "Wonka" movie -- and while the figures so far are impressive ... Johnny Depp still reigns supreme.

The first-day numbers are in for Timmy's latest flick, and like we said ... they're quite solid heading into the weekend and promise to see him and WB raking in somewhere between $35-$40 million domestically by the time Sunday rolls around.

Between Thursday previews and Friday's full day of showings, "Wonka" has earned about $14.4 million thus far -- which, again, puts the family-friendly film well ahead of the competition. Frankly, there isn't much standing in its way -- just a bunch of indie films and leftovers from weeks prior ... so Tim has a relatively clear path to dominate ticket sales.

Of course, some wanted to see how he'd fare compared to the old 'Wonka' movies -- specifically, against JD's version from back in the 2000s, the most recent iteration.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, TC's numbers (real/projected) don't hold a candle to Johnny and Tim Burton -- '05's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" made quite a bit more money at the time ... both in its first official day as well as what it earned in its opening weekend domestically.

First-day numbers for JD's movie were about $20 mil at the time, and through the weekend ... about $56 mil. Through its entire theatrical run, 'CATCF' hauled in more than $206 mil.

In other words, Johnny's Wonka is still king in terms of cold hard cash -- and even critically ... it held its own in the reviews. Same goes for Timothee BTW ... his latest "Wonka" flick has a respectable 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, similar to JD's 83% for his 2005 offering.

Now, there is context for why Tim's box office numbers might not be as strong in 2023 -- fact is, people just aren't going to the movies the way they used to ... so all things considered, the "Wonka" haul is actually pretty damn good in the modern era, especially in this economy.

Oh, and if you're wondering where the OG Gene Wilder fits into this whole box office juxtaposition -- his 1971 version didn't do all that great at the box office at the time. It only made about $4 million domestically through its whole run ($22 mil adjusted for inflation).

Michael B. Jordan's violent car crash played out on camera, and now that LAPD has that video ... TMZ has learned it's at the center of an investigation.

Law enforcement tells us cops will look to prove Michael was behind the wheel of the racing Ferrari ... and once that's established, they'll likely reach out to the actor to get his POV on how things unfolded.

That would be the second attempt to ask the "Creed" star what caused his blue Ferrari to lurch into a parked Kia a couple weeks ago ... as he didn't elaborate for LAPD officers who responded to the scene.

We're also told if cops find criminal culpability upon wrapping their investigation, they'll forward the case to prosecutors for possible charges.

It'll be no joyride if things escalate for Michael ... who appeared to be racing a red Ferrari down busy Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood when his vehicle smashed into the Kia, leaving both cars mangled.

The original mechanical animatronic head from Steven Spielberg's "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" has sold, and as you'd expect ... it went for an astronomical final bid.

A whopping $635,000 was shelled out for the iconic piece created by legendary special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi. It's composed of a metal frame and a foam latex outer skin, which could activate the pulsation of veins in some close-up scenes.

The 1982 movie centered around a young boy befriending an alien stranded on Earth ... catapulting the likes of Drew Barrymore and Henry Thomas to mega-stardom.

The sale was made through Julien's Auction, which joined forces with TCM Presents during a 4-day star-studded auction event entitled "Hollywood Legends" -- and it all kicked off Thursday with a "Robots, Wizards, Heroes & Aliens" themed evening in Beverly Hills.

Other pop culture memorabilia auctioned off included a "Lost in Space" Robot Model B-9 selling for $455,000 ... and a "Conan The Destroyer" sword netting $45,500 -- 4 times more than it was estimated to bag.

New video shows Michael B. Jordan's violent car crash as it unfolded in Hollywood ... and it appears the actor may have been racing another car before smashing into a parked car.

Check out the new clip -- Michael's blue Ferrari is speeding down the street next to another Ferrari, and it looks like they were racing as Michael's car veered into a parked Kia.

You see his car lurch left, and then move sharply to the right as MBJ appears to try and correct, but he goes too far and careens into the Kia.

Mind you .... they were racing on busy Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood.

Both MBJ's car and the Kia were mangled messes. LAPD found no signs Michael was impaired by drugs or alcohol. At the time. cops asked Michael what had happened but he didn't offer an explanation. Now we know.

Crashing during a race can be a real drag.

Rosario Dawson's family tree is growing branches ... with the actress set to become a first-time grandma at age 44!!

The "Seven Pounds" actress revealed her daughter Isabella is pregnant with her first child -- and she plans to be called "Glamma" once the new arrival is here.

"It's very exciting," Rosario enthused to Page Six ... adding the baby is due next year.

Rosario adopted 21-year-old Isabella in 2014 out of foster care ... and has largely kept her out of the spotlight -- though they were pictured together on a red carpet in 2017.

In 2021, she opened up about her motherhood journey ... explaining she didn't go through an adoption agency or center... telling Health magazine she knew Isabella's biological mother and that it was without a shadow of a doubt that she'd adopt her when she found out her circumstances.

Rosario talked about her desire to adopt years before ... saying she wanted children to pass on stories of how amazing the other women in the family were.

Sydney Sweeney got a sneak preview of her upcoming role as Spider-Woman when a real spider bit her on the set of a different movie ... and cameras captured her terrified reaction.

Normally, we'd call this a blooper -- an outtake from the set of her rom-com "Anyone But You," which was filmed in Australia -- but it's hard to laugh when you see, and hear, her scream.

Syd described it as a "soul scream" when she revealed the clip on Wednesday night on 'The Tonight Show.' She says she was supposed to act as if the trained Huntsman spider bit her, but then it truly had a feisty nibble on her hand.

As you can see, her eyes are wide open in panic ... and she shrieks at the top of her lungs while convincing others, including costar Glen Powell, that she's actually being bitten -- and not faking for the scene.

Huntsman spiders are widely lurking around Down Under, and while their bites are painful, their venom doesn't harm humans. Docs on set immediately checked out Sydney and she was fine.

Martin Lawrence made Christmas wishes come true for a group of underprivileged kids in Los Angeles ... bringing presents and taking them for a fun day at the go-kart track.

The actor/comedian played Santa Claus for 125 kids Wednesday, taking them to K1 Speed indoor go-karts in Burbank ... where they were joined by some celebrity guests.

Martin's annual charity event, benefitting underprivileged youth and kids in the foster system, also drew Jo Koy, Kid Cudi, Polo G, rapper Chip Tha Ripper, MC Lyte, King Bach, Affion Crockett, former NFL stud Willie McGinest and comic Benji Brown.

In addition to go-kart racing and getting presents from their Christmas lists, the kids got to play arcade games and they chowed down on Raising Cane's chicken fingers and Randy's Donuts.

TMZ obtained video and photos from the event, and it looks like everyone was in the Christmas spirit.

Bradley Cooper conducted himself well during the premiere of his big Oscar-buzzy film this week -- playing the role of both A-lister and Papa Bear ... 'cause he brought his kid along.

The actor/director showed up dressed to the nines Tuesday night in L.A. for the debut of "Maestro," the Netflix movie in which he stars ... and for which he's said to be up for an Academy Award in due time. Notably, his date wasn't Gigi Hadid ... rather, he brought 6-year-old Lea.

Lea, of course, is his daughter that he shares with Irina Shayk ... who wasn't there either, BTW. She did show support online though -- posting a sweet shout-out to both of them.

Anyway, Brad was on daddy duty -- holding Lea's hand and escorting her along the carpet.

Obviously, it made for a super sweet moment in front of cameras -- but more importantly, it was a peek at BC's life behind the scenes. He normally takes great care to shield Lea away from the spotlight, and prioritizes privacy -- especially as it pertains to his family.

Last night, however, it seems he was ready to introduce her to the world ... cute kid.

Another highlight from the premiere came in a cool reunion between Lady Gaga and Brad ... who, of course, were in "A Star is Born" a few years back -- which was an award darling at the time. She didn't have anything to do with this latest flick ... she was just supporting.

Considering their success the last time around, her presence might be a good luck charm.

Now, controversy aside, "Maestro" is said to be big-time Oscar bait ... and seeing how Brad's in front of and behind the camera for this one -- he stands to walk away a major winner.

Beyoncé's reign as queen of the box office quickly came to an end this weekend, 'cause she fell from the top spot ... and slipped all the way down to #5, marking a massive drop-off.

The singer's 'Renaissance' concert film endured a 77% collapse domestically, coming in fifth place behind a handful of movies that have been in theaters for a while ... and losing out to a surprising newcomer claiming #1 -- an anime film from the great Hayao Miyazaki.

Of course, we're referring to "The Boy and the Heron," which snagged $12.8 million through Sunday. Obviously, that's not a huge number, which makes Bey's haul even more shocking.

'Renaissance' made only $5 million domestically this weekend ... quite different from last weekend's high mark of $21 million in North American markets. While that initial figure was solid, for sure, it didn't compare to Taylor Swift's opening weekend for the 'Eras' flick.

Remember, Taylor's concert movie made $92 mil in its opening weekend ... and then experienced about a 65% drop-off the next week, with $33 mil -- but it remained the top-grossing movie at the time, beating out Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon." Of course, the film went on to maintain a stronghold at the box office for several weeks thereafter.

The other films that came ahead of Bey's flick this week ... "Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" (#2), "Godzilla Minus One" (#3) and "Trolls Band Together" (#4).

Elon Musk is attempting to tamp down any fears about Tesla cars that a new Netflix movie has stoked -- but he isn't really addressing the heart of the problem ... ultra smart cars.

Here's the deal ... Netflix released this new film called 'Leave the World Behind' and there's a scene in there where Model 3 Teslas drive themselves into a massive pileup on a road leading back to NYC ... this amid a mass power outage/possible cyber attack on Earth.

Like we said, it's freaky because the cars literally crash themselves into a never-ending accident with nobody in the vehicles -- which the main characters have to escape -- and the scene highlights Tesla's high-tech self-driving capability ... but in a nightmare scenario.

What makes this moment in the movie extra eerie is the fact that it's all white Model 3s that are doing this ... seemingly at the whim of hackers who are sending the cars to their doom.

Elon responded to a spliced version of this scene on Netflix's Twitter/X account, and he seemingly tried reassuring people that his Teslas would fare well in a doomsday situation like the one depicted on camera. He wrote, "Teslas can charge from solar panels even if the world goes fully Mad Max and there is no more gasoline!"

Like we said, he's *trying* to downplay the terror in the scene -- but EM either didn't watch the scene in full, or he hasn't seen the whole film yet ... 'cause the car not being able to start is NOT the problem here. Rather, it's the fact they can freaking drive on their own!

There've been reports of Teslas that have gotten into some bad wrecks (allegedly in autopilot mode) -- but it's unclear if the self-driving feature had anything to do with the cause.

Still, it looks like Netflix capitalized on those fears of "too-smart cars" and turned it into a horror movie, of sorts ... at least for this 1 scene, anyway. The flick, in general, doesn't focus entirely on this issue ... but it is certainly a highlight. Shout-out Julia Roberts' driving!

Ken Hudson Campbell, famous for playing Santa in "Home Alone," is the one getting a great gift this time ... TMZ has learned doctors successfully removed the cancer that had been spreading in his mouth.

Ken's daughter Michaela tells TMZ ... her dad went into surgery Thursday morning, and the whole procedure went off without a hitch. She says the family was able to visit him later that night once he was out of the OR.

He's not home-free just yet ... we're told Ken will remain in ICU for another 2-3 days, before he's transferred to regular inpatient hospital care for about another week. But, he is awake and doing really well -- and it will take about 6 weeks of recovery before he can get back to normal, everyday activity.

As we reported, Ken was diagnosed with cancer in October after a tumor grew on the bottom of his mouth and "began encroaching on his teeth" ... according to Michaela, who laid it all out on a GoFundMe she set up for her pops.

She started the GFM because Ken, unfortunately, lost his SAG-AFTRA health insurance at the beginning of last year after the pandemic -- but the support's been overwhelming, they're over $96,000 of the $100k goal.

There have been some heavy hitters offering donations -- including $1k from Jeff Garlin and Tim Meadows, $5k from "The Big Bang Theory" creator Bill Prady and $10,000 from Steve Carell.

Michaela tells us Steve and Ken are old friends from their time in Second City Chicago improv, and the family is extremely grateful for all the support.

Nicolas Cage is a busy guy, but he's also apparently super festive, rocking a red suit at LAX just weeks before Christmas.

Cage was in a hurry Friday as we spotted him making his way out of Los Angeles. He kept things brief, putting on his signature shades while riding up the escalator, but offered a few words before going through the ticketing checkpoint.

Most notably, we asked him if his red suit was at all an ode to the quickly approaching holiday season. Cage played along, saying it was ... and then hurried to his destination.

Unclear where he was headed, but given a recent interview the actor did, he's likely not headed to a film set. Cage got candid about his career, telling Vanity Fair he's getting ready to stop making films ... "I may have three or four more movies left in me.”

"Love Story" and "Peyton Place" star Ryan O'Neal has died.

His son Patrick posted, "So this is the toughest thing I’ve ever had to say but here we go. My dad passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us."

It's unclear how O'Neal died, but he's had his share of health problems, including a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2012. In 2001, he was diagnosed with chronic leukemia.

O'Neal was not only one of the hottest actors in Hollywood back in the day, but he was a major heartthrob. His credits include "What's Up, Doc?" "Paper Moon," "Barry Lyndon," "A  Bridge Too Far," "The Main Event," and "The Driver."

Ryan was nominated in 1970 for a Best Actor Oscar for "Love Story."

He was famously life partners with Farrah Fawcett from 1979 - 1997, and they reconnected between 2001 and 2009, when she died. Patrick said, "Ryan never bragged, but he has bragging rights in Heaven. Especially when it comes to Farrah. Everyone had the poster, he had the real McCoy. And now they meet again."

BTW ... he shared the big screen in "Paper Moon" with his daughter, Tatum O'Neal.

As for the heartthrob part ... well, he dated a gaggle of beautiful women, including Ursula Andress, Barbra Streisand, Bianca Jagger, Jacqueline Bisset, Joan Collins and Diana Ross.

Ryan is survived by 4 children and 5 grandchildren.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Ivanka Trump and her hubby, Jared Kushner, all showed up at the same shindig in Miami ... the question -- can and/or should polar opposites mingle?

Check it out ... Leo arrived alone to Casadonna Restaurant Wednesday night and a short time later Ivanka and Jared walked in arm and arm ... all celebrating the kickoff of Art Basel.

Leo, sporting his customary baseball cap, is a die-hard environmentalist and liberal. Ivanka and Jared ... not so much.

We don't see real interaction between Leo and the Trump/Kushners, but it's not a huge space so it seems avoiding each other all night would be super difficult.

The country is so divided there's a sentiment anyone who dares to interact socially is a traitor to their cause, but should that be the case? So we ask ...

Nevertheless, a good time seemed to have been had by all.

Forest Whitaker's ex-wife, Keisha Whitaker, who he shares three daughters and more than 20 years of marriage with has died.

Forest and Keisha's 25-year-old daughter, True, shared the devastating news, writing, "goodbye mommy. I love you 4ever and beyond. the most beautiful woman in the world ... thank you for teaching me every single thing I know. I'll see you in my dreams and I'll feel you in my heart."

It's currently unclear how Keisha died.

Forest and Keisha tied the knot back in 1996 after meeting on the set of the 1994 film, "Blown Away" ... their other daughters are 27-year-old Sonnet and 32-year-old Autumn.

In an interview with Ebony years ago, Keisha said of Forest, “I had seen him in ‘A Rage in Harlem,'" and “Right away, I thought Forest had a gentle soul and a nice spirit.”

It was back in 2018 when Forest filed for divorce from Keisha after more than 20 years of marriage, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the split.

Keisha was only 51.