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BERLIN -- MMC Independent will co-produce Stephen Frears' upcoming romantic drama "Cheri," starring Michelle Pfeiffer.

As previously reported, Miramax and Pathe will distribute "Cheri," which is produced by Bill Kenwright and Tracey Seaward, with scribe Christopher Hampton, Andras Hamori, Richard Temple, Francois Ivernel and Cameron McCracken exec producing.

Hamori and Ralf Schmitz, CEO of Cologne-based studio MMC, inked the co-production deal on May 13 in the presence of Andreas Krautscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia's state minister for federal and European affairs, at the state chancellery in Dusseldorf.

The NRW state government has been promoting the state's film industry abroad and the contact between Hamori and MMC execs was made in January during a U.S. visit by state premier Juergen Ruettgers.

Among recent international productions to shoot in the state are Stephen Daldry's "The Reader," starring Kate Winslet; Theo Angelopoulos' "Dust Of Time" with Willem Dafoe; and "Within the Whirlwind," Marleen Gorris' biopic of Evgenia Ginzburg, starring Emily Watson and Ulrich Tukur.