By Jonathan Bing

NEW YORK (Variety) - Robert Duvall is mixing business with pleasure for his latest movie project ``Assassination Tango,'' a Latin American thriller on which he serves as star, writer, director and producer.

Duvall is an aficionado of the Argentinean dance, having served as chair of the U.S. Tango Academy.

He plays a New York hitman whose last assignment takes him to Buenos Aires. Ruben Blades plays an Argentinean whom he befriends in the local tango cafes; what seems like an easy hit turns much more mysterious and dangerous. Frank Gio, Kathy Baker and Luciana Pedraza also star.

The eight-week shoot just began in Buenos Aires, and includes one week of second-unit photography in New York.

MGM's United Artists arthouse banner will distribute the film. Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, whose American Zoetrope production company has a distribution deal with United Artists, will serve as an executive producer.