Shekhar Kapur's The Golden Age, starring Cate Blanchett, will inaugurate the Premiere section of the second edition of the Rome Film Festival, organisers said today.

The Golden Age will see its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, as previously announced, while the Rome bow will be its European premiere.

The film is slated for a mid-October release by Universal in North America; Universal also distributes the film in Italy.

In the film, Blanchett returns to the role she played in the Oscar-nominated Elizabeth. Geoffrey Rush returns to play the queen's adviser, Sir Francis Walsingham. Shekhar Kapur also directed the original.

Clive Owen stars as Sir Walter Raleigh, an adventurer. The film is an exploration of the relationship between Raleigh and the Queen.

Last year Rome's Premiere section opened with the high-profile Nicole Kidman vehicle Fur: An Imaginary Portrait Of Diane Arbus directed by Steven Shainberg in the debut edition of the festival.

Premiere is Rome's gala section dedicated to high-profile films providing some glamour on the red carpet

The announcement of that opener - with Nicole Kidman on the red carpet- raised eyebrows among industry professionals watching the developing role of Rome on the fall festival calendar particularly as last year Rome unspooled barely one month after Venice wrapped.

The title squabble was laid to rest when the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado also announced the world premiere screening of Fur, some six weeks ahead of its official world premiere at Rome.

As previously announced for its second edition, Rome will hold the world premiere of Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth in an unspecified slot. The film was written, directed and produced independently by Coppola.

Also previously announced, Rome's opening film is Alain Corneau's Le Deuxieme Souffle, (The Second Wind) a remake of 1966 Jean-Pierre Melville noir starring Monica Bellucci and Daniel Auteuil who are expected on the red carpet.

Rome Fest's second edition runs October 18-27.

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