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Marking the first concrete steps in Vittorio Cecchi Gori's long-awaited comeback, the troubled film mogul currently has two films lined up for 2004.

Currently in post-production is a new project by popular Roman actor-director Carlo Verdone entitled Love Is Eternal - For As Long As It Lasts (L'Amore E' Eterno - Finche' Dura), which focuses on couples of 40 and 50 year-olds who are torn between the need for stability and the desire for new emotions.

Besides being the first film to be produced by Cecchi Gori in over two years, buzz surrounding the film has been further heightened by the huge success of Verdone's last film, It Can't Be All Our Fault, which grossed a massive Euros 5.6m when it was released by Warner Bros Italia in January 2003.

Cecchi Gori's next film is also likely to set tongues wagging, albeit for different reasons: he is currently lining up a picture about another notorious Italian personality, seven-time prime minister Giulio Andreotti.

Directed by Pasquale Squitieri, the picture is entitled The Trial Of The Century (Il Processo Del Secolo) and will focus on 84-year-old Andreotti's infamous decade-long trial for Mafia connections.

Meanwhile, several directors with recent hits under their belt are currently also lining up new films. These include Best Day Of My Life director Cristina Comencini's upcoming La Mia Mano Destra (literally, My Right Hand), a drama about the tumultuous love life between Clara Wieck and composer Robert Schumann, and Michele Placido (A Voyage Called Love)'s Ovunque Sei (literally, Wherever You Are), a romantic drama starring hot Italian actor Stefano Accorsi about a young married couple and a man who has the chance to find love after a terrible accident.

One of Italy's most popular directors, Gabriele Muccino, is also preparing a new project, entitled Il Viaggio di Sofia (literally, Sofia's Voyage), with his long-time producer, Fandango's Domenico Procacci. The director, whose last film Remember Me will screen at the next Sundance Festival, has teamed up with his younger brother Silvio and his wife, Elena Majoni, on the script which focuses on an 18-year-old Italian girl's coming-of-age experience.

Finally, audiences who enjoyed Silvio Soldini's world-wide sleeper hit Bread And Tulips will be looking forward to his latest project, Agata And The Tempest, which is currently in post-production. The film, which marks a welcome return for Soldini to bittersweet comedy after his tormented love story, Burning In The Wind, tells the story of a woman, Agata, who finds out that her brother Gustavo isn't really her brother. Bread And Tulips actress Licia Maglietta, stars.

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