Twisted Pictures' Repo! The Genetic Opera has begun shooting in Toronto this week with an eclectic cast featuring Sarah Brightman, Anthony Head, Paris Hilton, Bill Moseley, Paul Sorvino and Alexa Vega. Lionsgate holds worldwide rights to the film.

The film is being produced by Daniel Heffner, Carl Mazzocone, Mark Burg and Oren Koules; Lionsgate's president of acquisitions and co-productions Peter Block and executive vice president Jason Constantine are overseeing for the company.

The film is directed by Darren Lynn Bousman who directed Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV for Twisted and Lionsgate as well as the original LA stage production of Repo! in 2002. Terrence Zdunich and Darren Smith, who created the stage production, have co-written the screenplay, while Japanese composer Yoshiki Hayashi is producing the soundtrack.

Set in the future, the film tells the story of an epidemic of organ failures that devastates the planet and kills tens of millions. As scientists make plans for an organ harvest programme, a biotech company begins to offer payment plans for those who can't afford to purchase new body parts outright. But those organs are subject to default procedures at the hands of the organ repo men.