And if this early love scene is anything to go by, the on-screen chemistry between the two is sure to be electrifying.

Manual D'Amore 3 - which translates as Love Manual 3 - is the first time the Hollywood stars have appeared together on screen.

It’s also the first foreign-language production for De Niro since 1976, when he starred in Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900.

Pucker up: Curvaceous Italian actress Monica Bellucci, 46, shares a passionate kiss with her co-star Robert De Niro, 67, in a scene from the forthcoming film Manual D'Amore 3

De Niro was born in New York, but as his name suggests, he has Italian heritage (his father was from Italian-Irish stock).

The Italian release will feature the feted actor speaking both in English and Italian during the film, as the main part in one of the four 'chapters' into which the movie is divided.

Cosy chat: De Niro and Bellucci's characters have an intimate conversation, leaning into each other and clasping hands

Lovers' tiff? De Niro wonders if it's something he said.. or maybe Bellucci is playing hard to get

Bellucci, who is married to French heart-throb Vincent Cassell and only recently became a mother, has been in both the previous two instalments of the Manual D'Amore movies, which have become one of the most successful franchises in Italian movie history.

Directed by Giovanni Veronesi and produced by Aurelio De Laurentiis, the films released in 2005 and 2007 scored a combined $45million at the Italian Box Office, although as Italian language films they did not set the UK cinema-going public alight.

But director De Laurentiis hinted earlier this month that the third movie, set to hit cinemas in 2011, might win an international release.

'This third one, with De Niro in the cast, will have greater international ambitions,' De Laurentiis told Variety.

Holding hands: Where do you want us, here? The actors walk, hands held, to the spot where they have their intimate chat

I'll do anything for love, but I won't do that: Bellucci talks through her scene with her leading man while the cameraman waits for his cue

Despite its popularity with Italian film fans, filming of Love Manual 3 hasn't gone down well with local residents according to Italian press reports.

Locals have blasted the production for the unusually large disruption the shooting of the film has caused on the streets of Rome.

Law enforcement officers had to step in already to make sure public complaints did not escalate, reports said.