Director Fausto Brizzi will begin shooting his third feature, Ex, on July 15, his producer Federica Lucisano of Italian International Film (IIF) confirmed.

A successful screenwriter-turned director, Brizzi became a local phenomenon when his debut feature Night Before Finals (Notte prima degli esami) earned $16m and became the top-grossing Italian debut feature of all time.

Brizzi's 2007 follow up Night Before Finals - Today (Notte prima degli esami - oggi) went on to earn $17m in a year that saw local films market share increase by 44%.

The ensemble-cast Ex will have a $13.7m-$14.2m (Euros 8.7m-9m) budget - and shoot for 12 weeks in Rome and in South Africa.

Lucisano classifies the picture as a contemporary romantic comedy.

For Ex Brizzi reunites with the original Night Before Finals screenwriting trio made up of himself, Marco Martani and Massimiliano Bruno.

Speaking of the script, Lucisano, who works along side her father Fulvio Lucisano said, 'We imagined all those ex girlfriends and boyfriends, husbands and wives whose lives intersect in six episodes that inter-mingle,' she says.

Unlike the youth-oriented Night Before Finals and the nostalgic tinge of its sequel, Ex aims for a wider appeal and features a cross-generational cast including the popular Alessandro Gassman and Silvio Orlando (both who were recently featured in the Fandango produced Quiet Chaos), Margherita Buy, Cristina Capotondi, Elena Sofia Ricci, Nancy Brilli and other Italian talent while Cecil Cassel and Malik Zidi from France will also feature.

Lucisano says the project solicited strong interest from France and French companies Mes Films and Ocean Films are co-producing. Ocean will also distribute for France.

Italy will see a Valentine's Day 2009 release date via 01 Distribution.

Also in the pipeline for I.I.F. is the English language remake of their own 1970s hit thriller Whatever Happened to Solange (Cosa avete fatto a Solange). For the new version, Marco Martani (who often writes scripts with Brizzi) is attached as director. Martani recently directed his first film, Cemento Armato.

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