Robert De Niro gets an eyeful as Monica Bellucci hangs out her lingerie on set in Rome

There's undoubtedly millions of men throughout the world who dream of catching a glimpse of screen siren Monica Bellucci's underwear. But that honour was left to Robert De Niro yesterday as he shot scenes with the Italian actress for their new movie Manual D'Amore 3 in Rome. Monica wore a purple and black nightdress as she hung out some sexy smalls while filming the romantic movie

Monica Bellucci was seen hanging out her underwear on the set of her new movie Manuale D'Amore in Rome

But co-star Robert De Niro managed not to get too distracted by the underwear, instead focusing on the Italian actress

And while De Niro may have been slightly taken aback by the selection of frilly underwear Monica casually pinned up on the clothes line, he managed to keep his eyes entirely on his stunning co-star.

Manual D'Amore 3 - called Love Manual 3 in English - is the first time Hollywood icons Monica and De Niro have starred together on screen. Passion Of The Christ star Monica - married to French heartthrob Vincent Cassell - has been in the previous two installments of the Manual D'Amore movies, which have become one of the most successful franchises in Italian movie history.

The romantic film is the first time De Niro and Monica will have starred together on screen

Monica managed to sneak a quite look at her mobile phone in between takes

This sequel, directed by Giovanni Veronesi, will see De Niro, 67, play a divorced American professor living in the Italian capital, who falls deeply in love with an Italian interpreter, played by Bellucci.

Although a huge success in their home country, the Italian films have failed to make much impression on overseas box offices. However, director Veronesi has said they there's no reason why they shouldn't be successful in America - perhaps hinting that his franchise is ripe for a Hollywood makeover.