United Artistshas picked up rights in North America, Australia/New Zealand and South Africato Romance And Cigarettes which is scheduled to start shooting in New York this month.

The movie iswritten and directed by actor John Turturro and features an ensemble castincluding Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, Christopher Walken, Mandy Moore,Mary-Louise Parker and James Gandolfini.

John Penotti andhis New York-based financing and production house GreeneStreet Films areproducing the project, with Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Icon Entertainment'sBruce Davey and Janus Films' Jana Edelbaum serving as executive producers. IconEntertainment International is handling international sales, as announced atCannes last year.

The storycentres on a cheating blue-collar worker (Gandolfini) who is forced to choosebetween his mistress (Winslet) and wife (Sarandon) and features lip-synchedrecitals of songs from Irving Berlin, Tom Jones and Bruce Springsteen, amongothers.

"John Turturrohas created a tour-de-force film," Penotti said in a statement. "Watching himharness the comedic and musical talents of [the cast] has been breathtaking."

Penotticontinued: "United Artists is exactly the right distributor for us. They haveembraced the commercial potential of this bold and energetic story. We arepleased they are our partners."

Penotti co-founded GreeneStreet with actor Fisher Stevensin 1996 and the company's previous credits include Uptown Girls, Swimfan and In The Bedroom.

Upcomingprojects include the thriller Slow Burn starring Ray Liotta and LL Cool J, Sally Potter's romance Yes, which stars Joan Allen and Sam Neill,and the company's first documentary Once In A Lifetime, which is being co-financed with the BBCand produced by Oscar winner John Battsek.

The film isTurturro's third as director after Mac in 1992 and Illuminata in 1998.