MUMBAI: Ashok Amritraj's Hyde Park Entertainment Group and Platinum Studios in the US have commenced production on Dead Of Night.

This film is based on the best-selling Italian comic book series, Dylan Dog, created by Tiziano Sclavi and published by Italy's Sergio Bonelli Editore. The comic book series has sold more than 56 million units worldwide and has been translated into 17 languages since its debut in 1986. Principal photography is taking place in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Brandon Routh Superman Returns stars as Dylan - a reluctant private investigator who is drawn into the world of vampires, werewolves and the undead -- and the film is being directed by Kevin Munroe, whose 2007 re-imagining of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles resurrected the billion dollar franchise.

Munroe say brings a fresh take to the genre by focussing less on the transformation from human to non-human and more on the seamless interaction between the living and the undead. Writers Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly Sahara have taken the world of Dylan Dog out of a European setting and given it a New Orleans flavor with its rich bayou and marshland backdrop.

Platinum Studios and the Hyde Park Group are joined in the production with producer Gilbert Adler who is no stranger to comic book adaptations, having produced Superman Returns and Constantine for Warner Bros. The film reteams Adler with Routh, who played Clark Kent in the Superman film.

Hyde Park and Platinum Studios completed the financing for the picture with Australia and New Zealand-based Omnilab Media and Hong Kong-based Standard Chartered Bank.

Recently Omnilab Media played a key role in providing production financing, as well as securing and/or overseeing North American distribution for The Bank Job, W, and The Messenger.

The producers have also hired Harvey Lowry and Oscar winning Drac Studios to handle make-up effects. Drac Studios has received 11 Oscar nominations for Best Achievement in Makeup. It most recently won for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.