Italy’s RAI Cinema, which is main backer of Polanski’s new film, has slated September 28 local release via its 01 Distribuzione unit for “The Palace,” whose ensemble cast includes Mickey Rourke, John Cleese, Fanny Ardant.

Other key cast members include German actor Oliver Masucci (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”); Portugal’s Joaquin De Almeida; the U.K.’s Bronwyn James (“The Dig”) and Italy’s Fortunato Cerlino (”Gomorrah”).

Production company Eliseo Entertaiment and RAI Cinema have issued decadent poster featuring actress Lilia Zahner – who in “The Palace” plays the wife of a Russian ambassador – with her crowned head in a plate of lentils.

“It’s December 31, 1999, and the luxurious The Palace Hotel is preparing for the most anticipated New Year ever. Millionaire guests from all over the world prepare for the New Millennium, amidst quirks, vices and extravagance.

Roman Polanski gives us an absurd, black and provocative comedy,” read the film’s promotional materials.

“The Palace” has been submitted to Venice, which runs Aug. 30-Sept. 9. But the festival’s selection committee has not seen the film yet. Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera is not averse to launching Polanski’s latest, if it’s good.

Shortly after the Venice bow of “Officer and a Spy,” Polanski faced new allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies. When he went on to win best director at Cesar Awards (French Oscar) in 2020, industry outcry prompted complete overhaul of the leadership of the organization.

The scandal sparked the birth of France’s own #MeToo movement, spearheaded by French actor Adele Haenel, star of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, who walked out of Cesar ceremony upon hearing Polanski’s name.

Polanski is less of a hot-button issue in Italy than he is in France, where no financier, producer or broadcaster has dared touch “The Palace.”

French sales company Goodfellas, formerly Wild Bunch, is handling international sales for the film, which has $17 million budget.

The Palace is co-written by Oscar-winning Polish writer-director Jerzy Skolimowski, whose “EO” premiered in Cannes last year and was nominated for an Oscar, and scored by Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat.

The film has been described by Polanski as “a comedy showing the naivety, hedonism, corruption and social inequity which lie at the root of the world’s current problems.” The narrative “interweaves multiple storylines, spanning the entire social spectrum,” the notes point out. “The Palace” is being pitched to buyers as “above all, a provocative comedy – bitter at times, frivolous and eccentric at others, which will leave the viewer with a lingering question: what went wrong?”

Barbareschi, who also produced “Officer and a Spy,” has mounted Polanski’s latest work as co-production between his Eliseo Multimedia banner and RAI Cinema, Poland’s Lucky Bob, France’s Rp Productions, Switzerland’s CAB Productions, and Belgium’s AgentDouble.