One million tickets have been sold in advancefor the first ever Turkish sci-fi comedy G.O.R.A. which is released byWarner Bros. in 460 cinemas - almost half of the available screens - throughoutTurkey on November 12 (Friday).

Speaking to ScreenDaily.com, BirolAkbaba, head of international sales for the film's production company BesiktasKultur Merkezi (BKM), said that there were "very big expectations afterthree years of waiting for this film". BKM was previously behind pastbox-office hits Vizontele (2001) and Vizontele Tuba (2004).

Budgeted at around Euros 5m, G.O.R.A. isalso the most expensive Turkish film ever made and has the creme de la creme ofthe Turkish acting world in the leads.

Turkey's top stand-up comedian Cem Yilmaz - whoalso wrote the film's screenplay and had previously worked with G.O.R.A.'sdirector Ömer Faruk Sorak on Vizontele - plays two roles, while otherparts are cast with such film and TV stars as Ozan Güven, Özge Özberk, ErdalTosun and Rasim Ozketin.

According to Akbaba, the international releasewill roll out next Wednesday (Nov 17) with a 10-print launch by small Frenchdistributor Too Cool.

This will by followed by releases in Germany(Solo-Film Verleih is opening with 72 prints, unprecedented for a Turkishfilm), Austria (Constantin), Switzerland (Swiss Film Connection), and theNetherlands and Belgium (Multitone Productions). 19 prints will be released inthe Netherlands, while Belgium is set to have seven prints, three with Frenchand four with Dutch subtitles.

In addition, the UK's Diva Film will open in sixcinemas in London and then show the film at screens in Cambridge and Manchesterin the second week. Denmark is due to follow in mid-December, with Sweden andAustralia in early 2005.