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Mike Epps is still feeling some sorta way about the Richard Pryor biopic that didn't happen -- and 10 years after he got the dream role, he's blaming Richard's widow for shutting it down.

Mike did his best to crack jokes about it as revealed the backstory to Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on their "All the Smoke" podcast -- claiming things went south with Jennifer Lee Pryor because he refused to render certain services for her.

Call it the ultimate d**k move -- or lack thereof -- but Mike claims Jennifer wanted a little quid pro quo ... and when he refused to sleep with her, she yanked the role from him.

Mike claims he and Jennifer clashed harder at Richard's funeral in 2005, which he says doubled as a comedic event ... albeit not intentionally!!!

He threw the late Paul Mooney and Richard's other friends in attendance under the bus for not speaking at the funeral -- instead leaving Mo'Nique and George Lopez to pay their respects even though they didn't actually know the comedic legend.

You gotta see Mike paint the picture of how the funeral went down ... especially his Diana Ross impression.

But the jokes stopped when he talked about walking up to Jennifer to insist he was the man for the biopic role, because his legacy has outlived Richard's -- and all the kids know it!!!

Lee Daniels was originally on board to direct the RP film in 2014 but jumped ship 2 years later, leaving Mike to portray Pryor in minor capacities as he did in HBO's short-lived "Winning Time" series ... potentially the last time he'll get to impersonate his idol.

Lindsay Lohan's renaissance is in full swing -- just take a look at the frenzy surrounding her in NYC this week while promoting her new movie ... it feels like 2004 all over again!

The actress was fully embracing her return to the spotlight Thursday while arriving at NBC Studios for an interview to plug her upcoming Netflix film "Irish Wish" -- which is set to start streaming on March 15 -- and if this doesn't scream A-list ... we don't know what does.

Check it out ... LiLo owned the moment as she signed autographs -- and let paps fire away for photos. She was even kind enough to speak with our photog to answer some questions.

We asked her how motherhood was treating her ever since welcoming her baby boy, Luai -- whom she shares with her hubby Bader Shammas -- and she actually gave us some insight into that ... telling our camera girl that she loves being a mom.

Lindsay's had her family with her while working here in the States lately -- even though she lives abroad. And with all these projects she's on these days ... it's clear she's ready to embrace the major stardom she once had in her youth.

It's pretty awesome to see, TBH ... sort of a full circle moment for her, and she seems more than ready to take it all on again.

Remember ... LL made a brief cameo/appearance in the recent "Mean Girls" remake and has also been confirmed for a "Freaky Friday" sequel ... so she's booked and busy.

Of course, she skyrocketed to fame as a child star in "The Parent Trap" and became an icon in teen/young adult movies thereafter -- but eventually, after some turbulence, she stepped away from the limelight and went overseas.

Hollywood is rolling out the red carpet for the Oscars this weekend ... and we mean that literally -- 'cause workers are already knee-deep in prep work for the big show!

The iconic awards show will kick off Sunday at the famed Dolby Theatre in Hollywood -- and it's pretty obvious it takes a few days to transform the Hollywood Walk of Fame into an A-list-ready red carpet ... as you can see, people were already hard at work starting Wednesday.

Crew members came together to roll out massive amounts of red fabric in order to cover up the star-studded walkway. It looks like red and gold will be the colors of the evening, if all the drapes that are going up are any indication. No surprise ... that's usually the Oscars' theme.

Of course, stencils of Oscar statuettes are heavily featured throughout the space ... as if we'd forget which awards show we're watching. Point is ... they're getting the joint ready to go!

They do this every year -- but it's always fascinating to see what goes into making the venue actor-ready once cameras start rolling later this weekend. Clearly, there's a lot of work BTS.

Superstars like Margot Robbie, Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera are expected to attend ... as they're all big nominees heading into Tinseltown's biggest night.

Safe to say ... this thing will be backed with A-listers -- similar to how the 2023 show was.

That's to be expected, of course. Last year's awards show featured the likes of Austin Butler, Ana de Armas, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis and Cate Blanchett ... all of whom stepped out for the event and posed for cameras.

Adam Sandler and Margot Robbie were 2023's highest-paid actors -- but one is definitely making more than the other (and all the rest, too) with the difference being ... Netflix.

Forbes put out a list of all the big-shot actors who cleaned up last year -- and their ranking based on the numbers is interesting ... for a few different reasons, we suppose. For starters, the Sandman is king of the Hollywood money machine, having raked in $73 mil in '23.

If you're wondering where all that dough came from -- you can thank the biggest streamer in showbiz for lining his pockets ... Adam had 4 Netflix movies total that released last year.

Adam starred in "Murder Mystery 2," "You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah," "Leo" and "Spaceman" ... with that last one being released this year, although he already got paid for it.

Netflix and Adam have been in business for years now -- he's got an exclusive deal with them to produce a crap ton of flicks ... and he's certainly fulfilling his end of the bargain. In return, the guy's getting paid handsomely ... which is nuts considering these are streaming movies we're talking about here. Just goes to show ... this is the way of the future!

Margot, meanwhile, made $59 million last year ... obviously, most of that is "Barbie" money -- it made over $1 billion at the box office -- and she had a small cameo in "Asteroid City."

The difference between Margot and Adam -- aside from the $14 mil -- is that MR's an old-fashioned actress in the sense that her movies are strictly in theaters. Hmm ... interesting.

The rest of the list isn't all that surprising, as it includes a lot of big names -- including Tom Cruise ($45M), Ryan Gosling ($43M), Matt Damon ($43M), Jennifer Aniston ($42M), Leonardo DiCaprio ($41M), Jason Statham ($41M), Ben Affleck ($38M) and Denzel Washington ($24M).

The nuclear bomb test shown in "Oppenheimer" left a lasting legacy of radiation exposure and cancer diagnosis on generations of folks who helped build Los Alamos in New Mexico ... but people there say their problems are still being ignored by Hollywood and Congress.

Tina Cordova, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and told us why the world's first nuclear bomb test is still affecting families in New Mexico, decades after Robert Oppenheimer's nuke detonated in the desert.

"Oppenheimer" looks poised to win a bunch of Oscar statues at this weekend's Academy Awards, but Tina says filmmakers blatantly excluded all the people who made Los Alamos and the Trinity Test possible in the first place.

Remember ... the nuclear bomb test in July 1945 took place amid thunderstorms, resulting in toxic debris falling back to earth in the ensuing rain ... contaminating the landscape, water supplies and the food chain ... and exposing New Mexico residents to harmful radiation.

Tina, who helped make a doc about the fallout, tells us cancer has decimated her family ever since the bomb went off -- they lived only 15 miles from the blast -- with 5 generations being diagnosed with all sorts of cancers ... including lung, oral, skin, brain and thyroid.

She says filmmakers left this nuclear mess out of the film on purpose ... similar to how New Mexico residents were left out of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act back in the day, which provided financial compensation to Americans living near nuclear testing sites.

When folks living near the Trinity Test site were finally set to be included in RECA, potentially opening the door for payments, Tina says Republican leadership in Congress cut their funding because of budget concerns.

Now, with "Oppenheimer" gearing up for a big Oscars night and an upcoming Senate vote on reauthorizing and expanding RECA, Tina is banging the drum for the people of New Mexico.

Kristen Stewart stole the show at the premiere of her new movie in her sexy, skin-baring outfit ... and it's kinda on theme with what she's been rocking lately.

On Tuesday, the actress rocked a revealing, high-cut bodysuit as she hit the red carpet at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills to attend the opening of her romantic thriller, "Love Lies Bleeding" ... and as you can see it was quite the getup.

Stewart's all-black ensemble included a teeny Chanel backless suit with spaghetti shoulder straps and a blazer wrapped around her arms. She also sported sheer pantyhose and a pair of pointed high-heeled shoes.

Costars Katy O'Brian, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov -- and director Rose Glass also showed up for the event. While they all looked stylish ... none of them displayed the boldness of Stewart, who has a knack for dressing provocatively.

You may recall ... she recently caused a stir with her gender-bending photo shoot for the March issue of Rolling Stone in which she wore a jock strap with her hand stuffed down the front of it.

After posing for paparazzi photos, the cast "Love Lies Bleeding" went inside the theater to enjoy the film with other celebs such as Thora Birch, Jackson Rathbone, and Catherine Hardwicke.

In the flick, Stewart plays Lou – a lonely gym manager who falls for a female bodybuilder named Jackie portrayed by O'Brian.

Cary Elwes has some trouble in his own castle ... 'cause he told police a lot of valuables are missing from his home, and officers think it might be an inside job.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the 'Princess Bride' star is the latest celebrity to fall victim to a recurring crime wave in Los Angeles -- this after the actor discovered a boatload of cash, art and jewelry missing from his Malibu estate.

We're told Cary's lost goods are valued in the 6 figures -- about $100k, more or less, according to sources with direct knowledge. We're also told the current working theory is this isn't a smash-and-grab job ... like we've seen recently with a rash of celeb home burglaries.

Instead, cops say they believe someone on Cary's home staff might have swiped the items from his place, possibly over several years, and it allegedly went undetected ... until now. Our sources say it's unclear what finally made Cary realize a bunch of stuff was missing ... but once he was wise to it, he reported it to the police.

The violation of his home has gotta feel like a streak of bad luck for Cary -- remember, we broke the story about him suffering a rattlesnake bite in April 2022, when he had to be airlifted for immediate treatment.

Dakota Johnson's putting her foot down and swearing off any movie projects similar to "Madame Web" -- this after the flick sensationally crashed and burned at the box office.

The actress kept it real about the Marvel flick not being her cup of tea ... explaining to Bustle, "It was definitely an experience for me to make that movie. I had never done anything like it before. I probably will never do anything like it again because I don’t make sense in that world."

Dakota adds, "It's not nice to be a part of something that’s ripped to shreds, but I can’t say that I don’t understand."

She goes on to reveal why the movie saw the fate it did ... explaining actors frequently get hyped for a project, but then when they're knee-deep in filming -- it turns into something totally unexpected. That's exactly what went down with "Madame Web," according to her.

DJ's also pinning the movie's failure on how the industry works ... explaining the whole movie-making process ain't all glitz and glam, but rather a complicated web of decisions made by committees, who don't know much about the art of filmmaking itself. Yeah, it's a mouthful.

She says execs at the top severely underestimate just how savvy viewers really are ... which leads them to miss the mark with their latest Hollywood projects, including this one.

FWIW ... the 'MW' numbers didn't lie ... the running total for its six-day opening holiday weekend -- beginning Valentine's Day and ending on President's Day -- barely scraped together $25.8 million domestically and fared pretty much the same globally.

It was so panned by fans and critics alike ... even Sydney Sweeney made fun of it during her opening 'SNL' stint ... joking that nobody saw it. Tough break, for sure.

One thing's for sure, the movie had no superhero of its own to swoop in and save the day at the box office -- not even Dakota AKA Cassandra Webb ... who BTW hasn't seen the movie herself!

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck watched 'Dune 2' in theaters just like everyone else -- but unlike normies, they actually went out of their way to clean up their area afterward.

Ben and J Lo caught a showing of the Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya-led sci-fi flick Monday night in Los Angeles ... but the fact the famous couple squeezed in between a bunch of regular folks isn't the most interesting thing here.

A group sitting behind Ben and Jen took a cell phone video of them leaving their theater seats -- and you see them picking up their trash ... namely, popcorn buckets and soda cups.

Check it out ... Bennifer (but mostly Ben) gives their seats a good once over to make sure everything is spick and span before heading out. It's certainly good etiquette, we'll say that.

Ben and Jen kept a pretty low profile here too ... people in the theater say they didn't even know the couple was sitting there until the credits rolled and the lights came back on.

Also ... it seems J Lo barely touched her huge popcorn bucket too ... and they opted for a regular container, not one of those viral 'Dune 2' ones that have been making the rounds.

In any event, it looks like Ben and Jen left no trace as they exited ... which can't be said for everyone who goes to movie theaters in America these days. A lot of slobs out there, as we all know very well.

Daniel Day-Lewis is sticking to his guns on retiring from acting, and he's not backing down -- this according to his longtime director buddy ... who says streaming is keeping him away.

Jim Sheridan -- who's collaborated with DDL on 3 different movies, -- told ScreenDaily, "He says he's done," adding that he's still talking to the actor to see if he can lure him back into the spotlight.

Here's the kicker ... he suggests Daniel's got a bone to pick with how the whole streaming revolution's changed the movie game ... for the worse, it seems.

JS says ... "He says he’s done. I keep talking to him. I’d love to do something with him again. He’s like everybody else. He opens up the streamers and there’s seven thousand choices, none of them are good."

He adds ... "Film has been moved out of the public domain into a private domain -- you have a remote, you can stop it. It’s not the same experience. It’d be great to see Daniel coming back and doing something because he’s so good."

Goes without saying, whenever Jim and Daniel teamed up, it was gold. Just look at their track record ... Daniel snagged an Oscar for '89's "My Left Foot," got nominated for "In the Name of the Father" in '93, and then they came together again for 97's "The Boxer."

Daniel's retirement isn't breaking news ... after his Oscar-winning performance in 2012's "Lincoln," he took a five-year break. But, even after he came back for "Phantom Thread" in 2017 -- earning him yet another Best Actor nod, he hung it up for good.

Jim ain't the only director praying for Daniel to get back onscreen ... Martin Scorsese has recently begged DDL to come back for one more film, but there's no sign that'll happen.

Kate Winslet's just found out about Ozempic, and let's just say she's not exactly jumping for joy about it -- making her thoughts known while munchin' on a pastry.

The actress stumbled upon the whole Ozempic thing while speaking to The New York Times Magazine ... where she explained she's heard murmurings about "some pill that people are taking or something like that" ... but she didn't exactly know what it was.

Something to note here ... Ozempic, originally a type 2 diabetes drug, is used off-label in KW's native Britain, but it's not exactly all the rage there like it is here in the States.

As a result, Kate was apparently horrified when she found out what it's actually been used for ... with the star adding it sounded "terrible," and encouraging people to just eat more food instead.

Kate's disgust at the whole sneaky weight loss method makes total sense when you consider the public scrutiny she's faced about her body ... especially since her Titanic days back in '97.

She told the publication the historical comments about her weight got to the point where she began battling an eating disorder ... but she kept it to herself at the time.

Heartbreakingly, Kate shared that when she did lose weight, people would comment on how good she looked, reinforcing this idea that looking good was directly tied to how much she weighed.

Nowadays, when people try to comment on Kate's weight, she's not having any of it ... quick to call them out on it right then and there. Safe to say, Kate's been through the wringer on this issue ... so her feelings on Ozempic aren't all that surprising.

Jonathan Majors is gaga for Meagan Good ... and not even his recent legal woes can put a dent in their relationship -- just check out the first words out of his mouth about her.

The couple was out and about Sunday at the 7th annual AAFCA Special Achievement Awards luncheon here in L.A. ... and the ex-Marvel star's practically glowing while sharing an update on their relationship when he was asked by Extra how they're doing.

Listen to JM's gushy response here -- he says, "We're in love... We're doing good, thanks for asking." Meagan chimes in too, saying, "We're doing great. God's good."

Jonathan has clearly got himself a keeper in Meagan ... remember, she stood by his side during his assault trial brought on by ex-GF, Grace Jabbari -- and she continues to stick by him even now post-conviction.

As we reported -- the jury ended up finding him guilty of one count of reckless assault in the third degree and one count of harassment. He was acquitted on 2 other charges.

Jonathan told us he was leaning on his faith in the aftermath of his conviction ... helping him stay strong in the run-up to his April sentencing. His legal team has filed to have the conviction tossed ... arguing the whole case was botched and unfair to him from day 1.

Of course, he'd been relying on Meagan all throughout the trial -- last month, the pair got away from NYC for a bit, hitting the road together for a cross-country road trip which included a pit stop in Dallas to see Majors' mother, Terri.

More fallout from the failed Willy Wonka Experience -- only this time, it's somewhat positive ... 'cause they're gonna make a movie out of this, or at least one character and one genre.

As it turns out, a Scotland-based production company is planning to make a horror film in connection to the viral disaster -- but they're honing in on a memorable cameo in the whole thing that kinda took the internet by storm. Of course ... we're referring to The Unknown.

Per Bloody Disgusting ... Kaledonia Pictures has announced a new project on the horizon that they're hoping to film and release this year, and yes it's named after the big bad.

The company says, "The film ... follows a renowned illustrator and his wife who are haunted by the tragic death of their son, Charlie. Desperate to escape their grief, the couple leave the world behind for the remote Scottish Highlands -- where an unknowable evil awaits them."

KP adds ... "We are excited to begin production and look forward to sharing more with you as soon as possible. We are actually only a few miles from the event, so it is quite surreal to see Glasgow all over social media, worldwide."

If you didn't catch all this ... The Unknown was one of the hilarious highlights from the Wonka experience -- portrayed as some obscure evil spirit that was randomly thrown into the mix.

We'll admit it was a pretty creepy character -- at least the kids thought so -- and the girl behind the mask came forward to confirm the job that day was as awful as the other actors have also said it was.

Jamie Foxx says he's going to finally address what exactly happened to him that landed him in the hospital last year -- but it sounds like it'll be a televised special of some sort.

The comedian/actor was accepting a Producers Award Sunday night in L.A. at the African American Film Critics Association Awards -- where he delivered a touching speech and discussed how his whole view on life has changed for the better after what he went through.

Of course, he's referring to the health scare that sidelined him for most of 2023 -- a mystery ailment that never quite got cleared up ... but which he says has given him new perspective.

He was cracking jokes while addressing this, but at one point -- he made a revelation ... namely, that he was going to discuss the details of his hospitalization in due time. The only caveat, he says, is that he's going to do it his way ... meaning, with humor and comedy.

The way he talks about it here ... it seems like Jamie wants to do this in a stand-up setting.

No timeline was offered on when this might be coming to fruition -- but it's the first time we've heard Jamie promise to tackle the issue head on ... as there's been lots of rumors and speculation, which he's well aware of. We're talking al the clone conspiracy chatter here.

One other highlight from Jamie's time at the event ... he posed with Jonathan Majors and Meagan Good -- both of whom attended the AAFCA, and who looked like a happy couple.

Jonathan's fresh off a criminal conviction ... but he's carrying on with his life regardless.

The numbers are in and it's looking good for Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya at the box office ... because the 'Dune' sequel made big money.

The running total for opening weekend for "Dune: Part Two" stands at $81.5 million at the domestic box office ... a pretty strong figure.

Remember ... the movie was projected to rake in between $76 million to $80 million ... so 'Dune 2' is outperforming so far.

The sci-fi movie's predecessor made $41 million during opening weekend back in 2021, so the sequel almost doubled that figure.

Internationally, "Dune: Part 2" is doing pretty well too ... bringing in another $97 million to sweeten the global pot to $178 million. Not bad.

The solid opening weekend follows some pent-up excitement for 'Dune 2' ... folks were looking forward to seeing the new stars added to the mix, like Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walker and Léa Seydoux ... just to name a few.

Timothée, Zendaya and the rest of the star-studded cast did a great job promoting the film and drumming up excitement ... who can forget Zendaya's revealing chrome body suit from the London premiere.

Mark Dodson, the actor who gave voice to some of the little creatures in "Gremlins," has died ... TMZ has learned.

The voice actor also brought to life characters for "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi," "Day of the Dead" and countless video games -- and still made appearances at fan conferences. In fact, Mark's daughter tells TMZ he died while in Evansville, Indiana, to attend Horror Con.

She says Mark had flown to Indiana for the event, and checked into his hotel ... and that's where he suffered a "massive heart attack" while sleeping.

Dodson's first big break in Hollywood came in 1983 -- he was the voice of Salacious Crumb, the little creature with the high-pitched voice that was always seated dangerously close to Jabba the Hut in 'Return of the Jedi.'

And, as it turned out, 'Star Wars' opened the door for another iconic role the next year.

In "Gremlins," Mark was the voice of Mogwai ... and, inadvertently, had kids everywhere -- who saw the movie in 1984 -- imitating his voice.

Mark worked continuously for several decades in film, video games, radio and commercials. As his rep tells us, Mark added "his unique voice and sound to each character and script he touched."

His daughter, Ciara, says Mark "never ceased making me proud" and his legacy will live on through his grandchildren and her.