Brian de Palma's long gestating adaptation of James Ellroy'snovel The Black Dahlia, starring JoshHartnett and Scarlet Johannsen, has begun shooting at studios in Sofia for AviLerner's Millenium Film with the German media fund Equity Pictures KG III.

The $60m crime drama had originally planned to recreate setsfor 1940s Los Angeles at Germany's Babelsberg Studios or Italy's Cinecitta, butBulgaria was chosen by the project's producers because of the lower setconstruction costs.

Millenium and Equity Pictures are currently lining upanother three films for shooting: Richard Donner's action film 16 Blocks, starring Bruce Willis and to be shot in Toronto andNew York; Neil LaBute's new adaptation of the film classic Wicker Man, starring Nicolas Cage as a detective travelling toa mysterious island ruled by women to find his lost daughter; and James Foley'sthriller 88 Minutes, starring AlPacino to be shot at locations in Vancouver.

Meanwhile production is underway on another twoMillenium/Equity productions: Andy Cheng's action thriller End Game with Cuba Gooding Jr., James Woods and BurtReynolds, and Todd Robinson's drama Lonely Hearts, starring John Travolta and James Gandolfini.

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