Luigi De Laurentiis Jr. said his Filmauro production house is set to head into production on "Empire of the Dragon," a long-gestating adaptation of the historical novel by Italian author Valerio Massimo Manfredi.
Variety reports that the big-budget "Empire" epic, about soldiers in ancient Rome who become militiamen for an exiled Chinese prince, is in active development.
The plan is to shoot in China by 2008. Manfredi also wrote the book that was the basis for the Dino De Laurentiis-produced "The Last Legion" opening early next year.
