Two dozen principal castmembers including Willem Dafoe, Matthew Modine, Bob Hoskins, Roy Dotrice andSylvia Miles are at Cinecitta's Studio 14 now half way through four weeks ofthe principal shooting of Go Go Tales, director Abel Ferrara's first foray into comedy which began shootingNov 27.

The set - a three-floor NewYork nightclub designed by Frank De Curtis - is the re-creation of a real barin Manhattan's midtown district. In the screwball comedy, Dafoe plays a stripclub owner, while Hoskins is the bar's accountant and Modine plays the owner'sbrother.

Italian production outfitBellatrix Media operated by Swiss Financier Massimo Gatti (the film's principalinvestor) with Steven W. Lefkowitz' US-based Go Go Tales Inc are behind theproduction, with Enrico Coletti and Massimo Cortesi as executive producers.

Coletti said they decided toshoot four of the five weeks of the $6.6m (Euros 5m) production solely onCinecitta's lot - including some exteriors which are to be shot on theredesigned Gangs of New York setcreated by Dante Ferretti in 2002 (still part of Cinecitta's back lot).

One additional week ofexteriors will be shot in Manhattan in January, while production wraps in ItalyDec 22.

Producer Enrico Coletti toldScreenDaily.com that shooting on Cinecitta' was "the right place to invitethe cast. We came because Abel likes Rome and as a production company based inRome - Cinecitta had everything we needed to shoot the film."

Coletti said they plan toprepare the film in time for next year's Cannes festival- and while they are"evaluating" distribution deals in North American and otherterritories, Spain's Duque Filmax has already signed on as distributor with aminimum 160-engagement deal.

"Everyone knows Abel,it is all a matter of getting the right distributors on board," saidColetti.

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