Aggressively-expanding German post-production group, CineMedia, is in talks to co-produce a $65-75m adaptation of an unnamed best-selling novel, to be directed by City Hall director Harold Becker.

The move marks CineMedia's first foray into international feature production and brings the Munich-based company one step closer to its stated aim of becoming a fully integrated media concern.

The Becker project, a German-US co-production which is being adapted by Ronin scriptwriter JD Zeik, is set to shoot largely on location in Berlin from the beginning of next year. A US major is expected to handle US distribution. CineMedia's involvement as co-producer would secure unlimited all-media rights to the film for German-speaking territories.

This latest step follows CineMedia's announcement last month (Screendaily February 15) that it had concluded a co-production agreement with UK production house Own2Feet Productions for three feature or TV films, with a total production volume of $7.5m (DM15m).

In January, CineMedia also entered the licensing business by acquiring 16 US feature films with budgets totalling $240m as part of its strategy to expand its range of activities outside its core business of post-production services (Screendaily January 25).

The announcement that the German capital of Berlin will serve as a key location for CineMedia's first major international production is yet another boost to the film industry in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. This year has already seen the region play host to Jean-Jacques Annaud's $90m Enemy At The Gates, starring Ed Harris, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz. Meanwhile Alan Rudolph's $8.5m Investigating Sex, starring Nick Nolte, Bruce Willis and Neve Campbell, is set to crank up in the region in May.