Pair set up 'Pretender'

Maverick, Article 19 to help fund, produce film

By DAVE MCNARY

Maverick Films and Article 19 Films will co-finance and produce "The Great Pretender," starring Filippo Bozotti ("Marie Antoinette," "The Sopranos") as a penniless European playboy.

Film's set to shoot in Italy, France and Spain next summer. Maverick's Guy Oseary and Mark Morgan will produce along with Bozotti, Article 19's co-founding partner.

In the script, penned by Dmitry Lipkin and Colette Burson, the title character is forced to make a bet with a powerful casino magnate to save his life after being caught with the wrong woman. The bet calls for him to charm a famous American actress into bed.