ScottSteindorff's Stone Village Pictures has acquired film rights to Nobel Prizewinner Gabriel Garcia Marquez's acclaimed romance Love In The Time OfCholera.

Steindorff will produce and package the project, atypically magic realist tale of unrequited love, before submitting it tostudios and financiers.

The deal is saidto be worth more than $1m and, with a production bonus, will net Marquez closeto $3m.

Company vicepresident Dylan Russell brought the book to Steindorff following a two-yearcampaign to persuade the Colombian author to part with the rights, and willco-produce with Stone Village's Scott LaStaiti.

Stone Villagepartner and head of business affairs Andrew Molasky and Russell negotiated thedeal with Carmen Balcells and Nuria Coloma of Barcelona's Agencia LiterariaCarmen Balcells.

"Love In TheTime Of Cholera is oneof the greatest love stories ever told," Steindorff said in a statement.

"Staying true to the essence of the book is important toGarcia Marquez and to us at Stone Village. We plan to produce an epic, timelesslove story."

Stone Villagepreviously produced The Human Stain with Lakeshore and Miramax, and Empire Falls with Paul Newman, Marc Platt and HBO.

Its slate includes TheRisk Pool with Lawrence Kasdanwriting and directing and Tom Hanks set to star; the re-make of AkiraKurosawa's Ikiru with RichardPrice adapting and Tom Hanks once again set to star; and Modoc, which Kevin Costner will star in and direct.