Robert Redford's Wildwood Enterprises has reeled in Brazil's Walter Salles (Central Station) to direct an adaptation of Che Guevara's renowned journal The Motorcycle Diaries.

The road movie will likely be made for a "modest" budget of $6m to $8m, according to Wildwood president Michael Nozik. Principal photography is slated to begin in the spring of this year but the final schedule hinges on Salles' availability. Salles may first direct The Assumption Of The Virgin, set to star Juliette Binoche, for Mirage Enterprises, BBC Films and Intermedia.

Redford will serve as executive producer of Diaries while Nozik will co-produce along with Leslie Urdang and Karen Tenkhoff. Los Angeles-based Puerto Rican playwright Jose Rivera is currently writing the screenplay.

"The Motorcycle Diaries is an unforgettable journey about the discovery of two young men's vocations. Ernesto (Che) Guevara and Alberto Granado's adventure also unveils a unique human and physical geography, the one of Latin America," said Salles.

The film will be backed under Wildwood's accord with Epsilon, a joint venture between Germany's Kirch and Italy's Mediaset. It will be made in association with Italian journalist Gianni Mina who secured the film rights from Guevara's widow in Cuba.