Scarlett Johansson and Colin Farrell to star in Roman epic

They will play members of a powerful Italian family in Neil Jordan's forthcoming period piece.

Nov  3 2005

The capital of Italy appears to be flavour of the month at the moment. Last night, the epic mini-series 'Rome' kicked off on BBC2, while today, it was announced that Neil Jordan's long-mooted period piece 'Borgia' is about to begin production.

Set in 15th century Rome, the film follows the internal struggles of one of the city's most powerful families.

Johansson will play Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia's daughter, who finds herself torn between family duty and her quest to find true love, while Farrell will play the Cardinal's son, a duplicitous and manipulative individual capable of the ultimate betrayal.

The story will revolve around Rodrigo's ascent to the papal throne, and the conflict that ensues.

'Borgia', which will be produced by Robert Zemeckis, is set to start shooting in April.

Before then, Farrell will be seen in Terrence Malick's 'The New World' while Johansson is starring in Woody Allen's 'Match Point'.

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