Actor Plans to Film Long-lost García Márquez Screenplay

Titled Frontera, film was written before the 1967 novel One Hundred Years of Solitude turned author into international literary star
A story about an aging pistolero and his much younger partner penned over 40 years ago by a struggling writer called Gabriel García Márquez could soon make it on to the big screen.

Mexican actor and producer Rodolfo de Anda says he has just acquired the rights to the long-forgotten screenplay and plans to start filming next year. Titled Frontera, the film was written before the 1967 novel One Hundred Years of Solitude turned García Márquez into an international literary star known to most of the continent simply as Gabo.

"Nobody knew it existed, and the most surprising thing is that it is a Western. I don't think anybody knew he had written anything like that," De Anda told Mexican newspaper Reforma.

De Anda says he first heard of Frontera as a young actor about 40 years ago when he was offered the part of the younger hitman. He assumed the screenplay had been written by Alcoriza, one of the giants of Mexico's cinematic golden age.

"When I finally bought the rights, about a month ago, I discovered the surprise that the story was not in fact by Alcoriza, but by Gabriel García Márquez," De Anda said. He now plans to play the older partner, and is considering pursuing Mexican stars Gael García Bernal or Diego Luna for the role of the upstart.

© Guardian News & Media 2008
Published: 7/15/2008
 
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