SCHEIDER SIGNS UP FOR GOOD WAR

ROME: Roy Scheider has been chosen to replace Harvey Keitel (who in turn replaced Sam Shepard) in the $6m, ten-years-in-the-making The Good War (entitled Texas in Italy), which is being produced by Alessandro Verdecchi of Orango Films. Italian hearthrob Raoul Bova has also dropped out of the project about Italian POWs imprisoned in the US during WWII. Bova is expected to be replaced by Luca Zingaretti of the highly successful Commissario Montalban television films.
Natasha Senjanovic

ACE SEALS BREAD, DIVA SALES

ROME: Adriana Chiesa Enterprises (ACE) has sold its highly acclaimed Bread And Tulips and its Scarlet Diva, the directorial debut of Asia Argento, to Gaga Communications for Japan.
Patrick Frater

ISTITUTO LUCE GRABS BITCH, YI YI

ROME: Istituto Luce has acquired Italian rights to two Cannes titles - Mexican film Love's A Bitch (Amores Perros) from Lions Gate Films, which screened in Critics' Week, and A One And A Two (Yi, Yi) from Capitol Films, which won the best director prize in competition. The Italian company had previously acquired Palme d'Or winner Dancer In The Dark and Blackboards, a joint winner of the jury award.
Patrick Frater

MOTION BECOMES TVA INTERNATIONAL

TORONTO: Following its takeover by Quebec broadcaster TVA Group, Montreal-based production and distribution company Motion International will be called TVA International. TVA International becomes Canada's second leading producer and the leading distributor of television products to Canadian broadcasters. The company produces mainly TV movies, drama series, youth programming and animated series.
Denis Seguin

LUCKY RED ACQUIRES CIPRI, MARESCO'S DWARVES

ROME: Italian distributor Lucky Red has picked up I Migliori Nani Della Nostra Vita (The Best Dwarves of Our Lives) by Italian cult filmmakers Daniele Cipri and Franco Maresco. Nani marks a departure for the Cipri and Maresco, whose film Toto Che Visse Due Volte created scandals with its decidedly anti-Catholic take on various religious figures. The film is a comedy which will be shot in colour, unlike their previous surreal and sombre black and white films. The $2.8m project, produced by Poetiche Cinematographiche and starring Robert Englund, will begin shooting in September.
Natasha Senjanovic