GRAPE VINE

Penelope Cruz: The next bond girl?

Following murmurs earlier in the week that Chiwetel Ejiofor was top of the pecking order for a villainous role in Bond 24, news has come in today that Penelope Cruz might be getting penned in too. The fiery Academy award winner was rumored as far back as early last summer but now France's Premiere magazine have spotted Cruz' name in a Sony schedule update for next year. Production seems to be ramping up for Daniel Craig's fourth Bond outing and Ms Cruz' addition would be a welcome one indeed. At 40, she would be the oldest actress to take on the Bond girl role and although Craig is 6 years her elder it will be pleasing to see 007 send his seductive glances to someone born in the same decade as he.

Tom Hardy on alcohol abuse: I am lucky to be alive

British actor Tom Hardy says he is lucky to be alive after being addicted to alcohol and other illegal substances. The Dark Knight Rises star was addicted to alcohol and illegal substance before giving them up in 2003. Tom Hardy now refers to his battle with drugs as a “near-death experience”, reports a popular website. ”I was a shameful suburban statistic. I was told very clearly, 'You go down that road, Tom, you won't come back. That's it. All you need to know.' And that message stayed with me very clearly for the rest of my days.”

Salman Khan shooting scenes for 'Kick' in Poland

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has arrived in Poland to shoot the climax of his upcoming movie Kick. The film is said to have many daring scenes. The Polish capital Warsaw has been selected for its tall buildings and many river bridges. The tallest building in Warsaw is the Palace of Culture, which was built as a gift by Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, in the early 1950s. For Sajid Nadiadwala's directorial debut, Salman will apparently jump from Gdanski bridge on the river Vistula and there will be a helicopter crash scene also. ”We have been urging Bollywood producers and directors to use Poland for their outdoor shooting for the past three years. Now they have seen the virtue of using Poland's natural beauty, which is no less than Switzerland,” said Monika Kapil Mohta, Indian ambassador to Poland.

Alia and Arjun can't keep their hands off each other

Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor share a great chemistry on as well as off screen… It's like they are madly in love with each other, for real. As if the romance in 2 States promos were not enough, the two are seen all over each other even during the film's promotions. And while everybody's talking about their closeness and linking them up romantically, Alia and Arjun don't seem to be effected one bit. Despite getting all engrossed in the conversation, the two couldn't keep their hands off each other.  Is this affection and attention limited only for a period of time as a publicity stunt or are they really attached to each other?

Jennifer  Lawrence /Mystique spin-off  rumored as standalone movie

With shape shifter Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) taking a pivotal role in Days of Future Past's plot, producers say she'd be interested in taking that character into a solo film. Producer/writer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class) also says he likes the idea of a Gambit spin-off and one for Mystique. Admits Kinberg, “I love what Jen Lawrence has done with her, and I feel like because she is in such a crowded ensemble, there's so much more opportunity if you were to follow her solo.” This year, Days of Future Past, marketed as the biggest superhero movie ever made budget-wise, in which the X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants, opens on 23 May 2014. The movie joins the cast of the X Men trilogy with that of X Men: First Class. And even though Days of Future Past is yet to hit the theatres, plans are already in motion for the next X-Men adventure with X-Men: Apocalypse, for 2015.

Sushmita Sen to make a filmy Bengali comeback!

Sushmita Sen has been missing from the silver screen for a long time now. And now here's some great news for Sushmita lovers who were waiting for the leggy beauty to make comeback. If rumors are to go by, Sushmita will soon be seen in a Bangla film. One also hears that the 'Main Hoon Na' actor has signed a Bengali film that will be directed by Basu Chatterjee's daughter, Rupali Guha. However, the rest of the cast is yet to be finalized but Sush has signed on the dotted lines already! She apparently wants to keep this project under wraps since nothing has been finalized as of now. But we have heard that Sush is planning to make the same movie in Hindi and she is dealing with the producers to acquire rights for a Hindi make as well.

Mission: Impossible 5 to Open a Week after Star Wars in 2015

J.J. Abrams is building a monopoly on the 2015 holiday movie schedule – Mission: Impossible 5, which he's producing, will open on Christmas Day, just a week after the Abrams-directed Star Wars: Episode VII hits theaters on December 18th. Not a whole lot is known about the new Mission: Impossible movie other than the definite return of Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. It's not clear yet whether his fellow agents from Ghost Protocol, played by Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and Simon Pegg, will also be back. The story is reported to be set already, by writer Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3) and the movie will be directed by Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher). Abrams has been involved with the franchise since directing and co-writing Mission: Impossible III in 2006. He also served as a producer on 2011's MI 4: Ghost Protocol.

Sebastian Stan Talks about playing the Winter Soldier in Captain America 2

Regarding how difficult it was to switch roles from Bucky to The Winter Soldier, Sebastian says that everything is so spelled out for him in the comic books that he sort of felt like he has to follow that as a guide. “Yes, in that certain things from comic books often aren't so easily translated to the screen. There were things visually that were new that we had to discover about the character,” adds Sebastian. “I mean in the comic books there was a lot of information but in terms of how the Winter Soldier moved, how he behaved, what his presence was like on screen, those were all things I had to discover once I was in the outfit and we were actually shooting the movie. And that was more difficult I suppose. At the end of the day the most difficult part was playing someone that's very different while at the same time the same person.” He also said that the training was really hard. Some of the diet and the working out that were happening six months before shooting were really difficult - learning to fight was like going to dance class. “You just have to have patience. You see the stunt guys who are just phenomenal and you just wanna jump in and do it but the whole thing has to be so planned out and detailed. You can't have a lot of room for errors because people can get hurt. So, just practicing that and repeating that every day for about two to three months I'd say was hard, but the results were always very gratifying.”