Anthony Minghella has rounded out the star-studded cast for his epic new film Cold Mountain and production is scheduled to begin in Romania on July 15. Donald Sutherland, Jena Malone, Kathy Baker, Ray Winstone, Ethan Suplee, James Gammon and Charlie Hunnam are the new additions to the cast which already includes Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellwegger, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Giovanni Ribisi and Brendan Gleeson.

The film, a co-production between Miramax Films and MGM Pictures, is set in the US but will be shot in both the rural US and Romania. Minghella has recruited Walter Murch as editor, John Seale as director of photography, Ann Roth as costume designer and Gabriel Yared as composer. All four worked with the director on both The English Patient and The Talented Mr Ripley. Production designer Dante Ferretti whose credits include Martin Scorsese's Gangs Of New York and The Age Of Innocence is a newcomer to the Minghella stable.

The film will shoot in the remote valleys and mountains of Transylvania in Romania to recreate an unspoiled mountain landscape in Civil War America.