Legendary Italianscreenwriter Sergio Donati, whose credits include Sergio Leone's Once Upon ATime In The West, A Fistful Of Dynamite and For A Few Dollars More,is to partner with maverick director Alex Infascelli (Hate20) on a new $5 million genre project provisionallytitled La Pistola.

Principal photography is setfor February 2007 with Sergio Castellito in the lead role. Donati is currentlyat work on the screenplay.

The project is beingfinanced and produced by Mikado, which will also handle Italian distribution.Mikado is currently assembling co-production partners.

Donati is one of the fewItalian screenwriters to have worked extensively abroad. His US credits includeArnold Schwarzenegger vehicle, Raw Deal, and Orca - Killer Whale. He also worked with Infascelli on his 2000 feature, Almost Blue, about a serial killer terrorizing Bologna.