Aurelio De Laurentiis's Romeand LA-based production and distribution company Filmauro is lining up a slateof international and Italian titles, including films by hot Italian directorsDavide Ferrario and Carlo Verdone.

De Laurentiis, who last yearproduced Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow, has bought rights toMassimo Carlotto's novel, L'Oscura Immensita' della Morte. It is currentlybeing adapted into an English-language picture by After Midnight director DavideFerrario.

"Unlike thenovel, which is set in Italy, the movie will be set in the US, so it will havean American cast," said De Laurentiis.

Ferrario will start shootingin autumn 2005.

De Laurentiis's productionslate also includes the next film by popular comic Carlo Verdone, the directorbehind Warner Bros hit It Can't Be All Our Fault and Medusa's Love isEternal For As Long As It Lasts.

Verdone is now writing thefilm, provisionally titled My Best Enemy, with Italy's golden boy,actor-writer Silvio Muccino, whom he met while filming Filmauro's current boxoffice hit Manual of Love (Manuale d'Amore).

De Laurentiis said aWednesday morning screening of Manual of Love in Cannes drew 44international distributors. Filmauro is currently in advanced negotiations withGermany on the film, and is also in talks with French and Spanish buyers.

My Best Enemy, to star bothVerdone and Muccino, is scheduled to start shooting in September or October2005, with plans for an Italian release in February 2006.

De Laurentiis has also signeda three-year exclusive deal with Giovanni Veronesi, who wrote and directed Manualof Love and Filmauro's 2004 sleeper hit, What Will Become of Us (Che NeSara' Di Noi).

Veronesi's next picture,entitled Everything And Right Now (Tutto e Subito), co-written byand starring Silvio Muccino, will start shooting in April 2006, ready for aFall 2006 release in Italy.

De Laurentiis, who recentlybought the Naples football team, said he is also developing a "big filmabout the world of soccer."