Popular Roman actor-director Carlo Verdone (It Can't Be All Our Fault) has announced that he is about to start shooting a new project for Cecchi Gori - marking the first concrete steps in the fallen giant's comeback.

Entitled Love Is Eternal - For As Long As It Lasts (L'Amore E' Eterno - Finche' Dura), Verdone's new film stars Stefania Rocca (Casomai) and Laura Morante (The Son's Room).

In an interview published in Rome daily Il Messaggero, the award-winning director said his new film will focus on couples of 40 and 50 year-olds who are torn between the need for stability and the desire for new emotions.

"The film is about how two people who have lived together for so long can maintain desire for each other alive," Verdone said.

Penned by Verdone together with Francesca Marciano and Pasquale Plastino Love Is Eternal is due to start shooting in Italy on Sept 1.

Significantly, Love Is Eternal will be the first picture to be produced by Vittorio Cecchi Gori since the former mogul's notorious cash-flow and legal problems led to a complete stall in acquisitions, production and distribution at the company over two years ago.

Buzz surrounding the film will be further heightened by the huge success of the comic's last film, It Can't Be All our Fault, which grossed a massive Euros 5.6m when it was released in January - and was also one of the first forays into local language production for Warner Bros Italia.

"I am happy to contribute to the revival of the Cecchi Gori company, which has given me so much over the years," Verdone said.

The comic was formerly one of the biggest box office draws in Cecchi Gori's close-knit stable of directors, alongside Carlo Vanzina (South Kensington) and Vincenzo Salemme, who are now also due to start shooting movies for the mogul in the next few months.

Other projects on the flamboyant producer's upcoming slate include films by Ricky Tognazzi (Excellent Cadavers), Gianni Amelio (Open Doors) and animation maestro Enzo d'Alo (Lucky And Zorba).

Cecchi Gori has also announced the making of a film about the legal and financial whirlwind that hit him three years ago.