NATCHEZ &045; Fresh on the heels of their hit &uot;O Brother, Where Art Thou?&uot; brothers Joel and Ethan Coen are hard at work on their next film &045; and they’ve chosen Natchez as a location.

As it now stands, the filmmakers are set to be in and around Natchez the first two weeks of September to film outside shots for their remake of the 1955 black comedy &uot;The Ladykillers.&uot;

Filming will take place on Canal Street across from the convention center, on Commerce Street near the Ritz Theater and in the 200 block of Linton Avenue as well as locations outside the city limits.

While star Tom Hanks will not be in Natchez for the filming, co-star Marlan Wayans and a handful of other actors will. And about 50 to 60 local extras will be cast in late August for some of the scenes, Godfrey said.

How did the Coen brothers find Natchez?

&uot;They had filmed &uot;O Brother&uot; in Mississippi, too, so when they started working on this one, they remembered that Mississippi had riverboat casinos,&uot; said Assistant Location Manager Ed Godfrey. &uot;They contacted Mississippi Film Office, which sent them here.&uot;

The brothers themselves visited Natchez three times earlier this year, and other co-producers are set to return later this month to tie up loose ends.

Filming has already started in Los Angeles, where inside shots &045; about 90 percent of the film &045; are being shot.

In &uot;The Ladykillers&uot; &045; the original of which starred Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers &045; Hanks will play a would-be riverboat casino robber whose plans are foiled by his elderly landlady.

Comedy is nothing new to the Coen brothers. After all, they were the team behind such well-known comedies as &uot;O Brother,&uot; &uot;Fargo&uot; and &uot;Raising Arizona.&uot;

And hosting films is nothing new to Natchez. &uot;In the late 1970s Š to early 1990s, we had movies shooting here every couple of years&uot; in addition to television shows, Godfrey said.

In recent years, filming of the television show &uot;Promised Land&uot; alone brought 6,000 hotel room nights, boosting the local economy, he said.

&uot;While they’re here, they buy everything from fuel to food,&uot; Godfrey said.

And, he noted, if those filming &uot;The Ladykillers&uot; have a good experience here, they will share that with others in the movie business, hopefully bringing more films Natchez’s way.

More information on how to apply to become an extra will be released prior to the arrival of wardrobe assistants in late August, Godfrey said.