Ridley Scott has once again chosen Malta for the filming of a major, $150 million-budget movie, which is seeing Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe reuniting with his 'Gladiator' director and producer Branko Lustig.
Ben Kingsley ('Gandhi', 'Artificial Intelligence: AI') is also lined up to star in the "gigantic" historical drama, called 'Tripoli' and set in 19th-century North Africa.
Filming of the epic is expected to start in May, and run for about eight weeks, while preparatory work is already under way and sets are scheduled to start being built in September.
Grand Harbour - the primary reason Malta was chosen - is the main location, doubling as Tripoli and Tunisia. Other locations include Fort St Elmo, which is doubling as Tunis, the open sea at Dwejra and Qbajjar in Gozo, the Grand Harbour breakwater and the sea beneath Fort Ricasoli.
The rest of the movie is being shot in Morocco for location purposes - the film requires a desert.
The parliamentary secretary in the Economic Services Ministry, George Hyzler, whose responsibilities include the Film Commission, said talks with the production company Scott Free have been under way since the beginning of the year.
Dr Hyzler had met Scott and Lustig ('Gladiator', 'Schindler's List') on location in Morocco last year to discuss the possibility of shooting further big-budget films in Malta, the first of which to materialise is 'Tripoli'.
A preliminary recce was carried out in March, followed by a visit by Scott in April, the Film Commission said.
Scott and Lustig were already acquainted with Malta as a result of the Oscar-winning 'Gladiator', shot over a period of 11 weeks at Fort Ricasoli in 1999.
Dr Hyzler said that given the importance of the film - it is "bigger" than 'Gladiator' - 'Tripoli' was being afforded a considerable degree of cooperation by the government. Certain issues that had worried the producers during their previous experience in Malta were being addressed, and the government was happy to offer its complete support.
'Gladiator' hero Crowe, who won an Oscar for unleashing hell as General Maximus, has already had a taste of Malta. He is currently working on 'Master and Commander', being shot in Mexico.
Crowe has once again been chosen for a role that finds him up in arms, trying to overthrow the government.
The script, written by Mark Monahan, has been compared to David Lean's classic 'Lawrence of Arabia'. Also produced by Mark Gordon ('Saving Private Ryan', 'The Patriot'), 'Tripoli' tells the real-life exploits of an American soldier, William Eaton (Crowe), who was sent to Tunis as consul for the US in 1978 and joined forces with an exiled king to help the heir to the throne overthrow the corrupt ruler of 'Tripoli' (now Libya).
'Tripoli' is the story of a young man's growth from a diplomat to a soldier to a statesman, and "it has all the ingredients that Ridley does so well," Tom Rothman, the chairman of 20th Century Fox, which is financing the movie, told Variety.
Scott has maintained a heady pace of late: after directing 'Gladiator', which won Best Picture last year, 'Hannibal' and 'Black Hawk Down', he is moving forward with 'Matchstick Men', 'Tripoli' and the 'Crusades' project.
He is also serving as producer on director Steve Norrington's 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen', parts of which are being shot in Gozo towards the end of August.
Sean Connery is starring in the period adventure film, based on a popular graphic novel.