Constantin Film chief Bernd Eichinger has beaten off rival bids from several directors and producers to acquire the exclusive film rights to Patrick Sueskind's international bestseller, Perfume; the story of a murderer.

Once linked to Stanley Kubrick, Sueskind's 1985 German novel has been translated into 37 languages and was voted Book of the Year by the New York Times in 1986. Set in 18th century France, the book follows a man without a smell of his own but who has an extraordinary sense of smell. He sets out to find the perfect scent that will make him fully human.

Eichinger is no stranger to literary adaptations - or supposedly un-filmable books. He has worked on adaptations of Umberto Eco's The Name Of The Rose, Hubert Selby Jr's Last Exit To Brooklyn and Peter Hoeg's Smilla's Sense Of Snow.