Mike Newell is in negotiations to direct the epic "Love in the Time of Cholera" for New Line Cinema.

Based on the novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Cholera" chronicles a love triangle set against the backdrop of turn-of-the-century South America. The story revolves around two young lovers who wait out careers, marriages, affairs and deaths until they can finally reunite. Oscar winner Ronald Harwood ("The Pianist") penned the screenplay.

Stone Village Entertainment's Scott Steindorff will produce, while Dylan Russell and Scott LaStaiti will co-produce. For years, the author rebuffed offers to adapt "Cholera" for the big screen. He finally relented after being pursued for two years by Steindorff.

New Line's Mark Ordesky and Swanna MacNair will oversee for the studio.

The studio is aiming for a spring start date and is eyeing locations in Central America and South America.

Newell, whose credits include "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Enchanted April," directed the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."

He is repped by ICM.