Mordecai Richler’s best-seller Barney’s Version is being primed for the big screen by producer Robert Lantos through his Serendipity Point Films, with Paul Giamatti set to star.

Production is set for Aug. 17 in Rome, with other shooting set for Montreal and New York, the Toronto company said on Thursday. Lantos (Eastern Promises, Being Julia) is partnering with Italian prodco Fandango (Gomorra) on the feature, which is budgeted at a reported $28 million. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation veteran Richard J. Lewis will direct the script, adapted by Montreal’s Michael Konyves (Fire & Ice, Storm Cell).

Giamatti (John Adams, Cold Souls) will lead as Barney Panofsky, an aging writer/producer who reflects on a fast and loose life, underscored by three marriages and being a suspect in the mysterious disappearance of his best friend.

The Giller Prize-winning Barney’s Version is the third book by the late, CanLit great to be adapted for the big screen, following The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz in 1974 and 1985’s Joshua Then and Now, the latter which was also produced by Lantos.

‘Mordecai Richler’s books have played a seminal role in my life… Barney’s Version is my favorite and after 12 years of development, we finally have a screenplay that is worthy of Richler’s magnificent book,’ commented Lantos in a release.

‘Barney’s Version is the kind of film I have been holding out for. It is a universal tale that begs to be told on the big screen,’ added Lewis, who co-wrote and directed the 1994 dramedy Whale Music, produced by Lantos. The film will be distributed by E1 Entertainment in Canada.

Barney’s Version received financing from, among others, Telefilm Canada which on Thursday revealed the latest round of financing through its Canada Feature Film Fund. The 83 projects include new titles from Semi Chellas and Ruba Nadda, House Rules and October Gale, respectively, and apparent sequels to both 2002’s FUBAR and seminal Cancon film Goin’ Down the Road.

FUBAR II — which reunites writers Paul Spence, David Lawrence and Mike Dowse — scored development funding through CFFF while Goin’ Down the Road, Again is backed through Telefilm’s Writers First program, moving the project from treatment to first draft. It is being written by Don Shebib, who directed and co-wrote the 1970 original.