Bankside Films has acquired the $6m (€4.4m) The Galapagos Affair, to be directed by Andy De Emmony.

De Emmony has a number of television credits to his name including The Canterbury Tales and God On Trial. The project will mark the director’s debut feature film. Kirstin Scott Thomas and Stellan Skarsgard are set to star.

The screenplay, written by William Boyd, is based on a true story from John Treherne’s book of the same name. It follows an idealistic couple living on a remote island in the Galapagos Islands. When a seductive European Baroness arrives, accompanied by her two lovers, their dreams are shattered.

Michael Kelk of London-based Wire Films is producing and shooting is set to begin in October 2009 in Australia.