Turturro taking out 'Romance'

August 15, 2007 The actor-writer-director is self-distributing his $11 million musical "Romance & Cigarettes," a project that has experienced a tortured history since it was filmed in 2004. Despite an all-star cast that includes James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken, Bobby Cannavale, Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Elaine Stritch, Eddie Izzard and Amy Sedaris, the unconventional United Artists feature was put in limbo in 2005 when Sony Pictures merged with MGM. Turturro was nominated for a Golden Lion award for the film after its September 2005 premiere at the Venice Film Festival, but "Romance" received mixed reviews there and at the Toronto International Film Festival a week later.

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