· Tom Cruise is rumoured to be in consultation with the CIA in order to provide a PR boost to the government agency in the wake of September 11. The Hollywood patriot, who also played a key role in the recent telethon benefit, is keen to push a positive view of the CIA in his forthcoming Mission: Impossible 3. "He plays a CIA agent and he was interested in making his character as realistic as possible," an unnamed source told MSNBC.com. "But he was also emphatic about presenting the CIA in as positive a light as possible. [Cruise] said that, given the recent terrorist attacks, it's important for Hollywood to help put the US and government agencies in a good light." It's not the first time that Cruise has helped advertise the American forces. His antics in 1986's Top Gun inspired the US Navy to set up recruitment booths in cinema foyers across the country.

· Jim Carrey is set to star in an untitled Manhattan-set comedy from writer-director Gary Ross, the creator of the acclaimed Pleasantville. The Universal production will star the actor as a widower who finds himself haunted by the ghost of his wife after he hooks up with a younger woman. "It's a rich, lush romantic comedy about renewal and rebirth," waxed Ross. "And setting it in New York and getting to shoot it there was important to us for obvious reasons. I don't usually write projects for specific actors, but now that we've got close with Jim, I can honestly say I couldn't imagine anyone else for the part."

· Heaven, the new picture from Run Lola Run director Tom Twyker, has been confirmed to open next year's Berlin Film Festival on February 6, 2002. Despite its American cast (Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi), it will be one of the only German films to have ever opened the festival. "Tom Twyker is one of Germany's greatest film-makers," explained Dieter Kosslick, the festival's new director. "Heaven is a great example of the creative potential of German cinema."