Benicio Del Toro looks set to play a lovestruck writer in a new contemporary romantic story.

The Oscar-winning Traffic actor will star as a Chilean novelist living in Paris who falls in love in How The Light Gets In, Belfast Telegraph reported citing Variety.

The 45-year-old is teaming up with American producer Laura Bickford on the film, which is set at four hotels in New York, London, Paris and Berlin.

Benicio, whose latest big screen outing was in Oliver Stone's crime thriller Savages, previously worked with Bickford on other projects including 2000's Traffic and 2008's Che.

She said: "Benicio and I have a long creative partnership. We started developing Che before Traffic. I really wanted to develop something where he could be funny and romantic."

The pair are currently approaching directors about How The Light Gets In.