One of the most acclaimed film-makers, maverick Oliver Stone, was in Malta last week to shoot the first scenes of the anticipated epic movie Alexander, on the life of Alexander the Great and the intrigue that surrounded the Macedonian conqueror.
Alexander, which is being produced, directed and scripted by the man behind popular and often controversial masterpieces - Wall Street, Nixon, JFK and Natural Born Killers - has been in development for many years.
A Yale graduate, as well as a historian, political and social analyst, Stone has been described as "one of a handful of true artists left in modern cinema, who almost always places importance on the craft, rather than economic considerations".
Ten-time Oscar nominee and winner of three (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Midnight Express), Stone had scouted Malta last year to look for locations, of which a variety are required, given the extent of Alexander the Great's conquests.
However, he ended up choosing Morocco, the UK and Thailand, the Malta Film Commission said.
Stone had expressed an interest in Grand Harbour and Fort Ricasoli, but for reasons determined by the script, he only used the port, said film commissioner Oliver Mallia.
"If we had sound stages, it would have been a different story," he said, adding that the production would be using the ones in the UK extensively.
Malta was also limited in attracting the entire movie to Malta due to the lack of large, open spaces, Mr Mallia said.
Nevertheless, the MFC has been monitoring the developments of the project since Stone's visit last year to determine what parts it could, somehow, draw to Malta, and the island now has "yet another small presence in a big film by a major movie-maker".
An eight-strong crew, led by Stone, filmed Grand Harbour, which is doubling for the port of Alexandria, Egypt, for what are known as visual effects plate shots.
Grand Harbour is forming the base to be manipulated by visual effects and transformed into the ancient port, Mr Mallia explained.
The Malta Film Commission said the production was satisfied with the shoot, which was carried out from various points around the harbour, including Fort St Angelo, the Upper Barrakka and Senglea Point.
Colin Farrell (Phone Booth) and Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal) are starring as Alexander and Ptolemy respectively in the movie.
Meanwhile, Malta continues to benefit from positive publicity resulting from high-profile interviews with the cast of Troy, which was shot in Malta in May and June.
In an interview on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, actress Jennifer Aniston, who visited her husband Brad Pitt (Achilles in Troy), during his stay in Malta, described it as an "absolutely beautiful, ancient island".
In another interview on The Tonight Show, Eric Bana, who is starring as Hector, also told the popular programme's many viewers in the US that he had just returned from Malta.
Pitt, in a recent interview in the Culture supplement of The Sunday Times of London said: "I'm in Malta now and there's 5,000 years of culture there. I love being there." Hello! and OK! magazines also carried his interviews, in which he mentions Malta.
The prominent Us magazine featured Brad and Jennifer's detailed itinerary in Malta, including a list of the historical sites they visited, as well as restaurants and the Blue Lagoon.
It claimed the couple was interested in Malta's history and indulged in sightseeing, mentioning the Hypogeum, the Archaeology Museum and Hagar Qim. The article featured shots of Valletta from Marsamxett Harbour, with the caption explaining the island's exact location.
MFC coordinator Luisa Bonello said that since the beginning of the year, Malta has already seen 17 weeks of shooting, with a total expenditure of $26 million from three feature films, one TV series, two commercials and a music video.