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NEW YORK -- As a further mark of its fascination with all things Italian, Miramax has taken what's reported to be a low- to mid-six-figure option on Frances Mayes' 1998 bestseller "Under the Tuscan Sun."

A memoir of rural Italy, the book recounts the author's experiences renovating an abandoned villa. Miramax is in negotiations to land Tom Sternberg as a producer. Sternberg, who produced "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Apocalypse Now," also brought "Cinema Paradiso" and "Il Postino" to Miramax.

"Tuscan Sun," which rode the New York Times bestseller list for two years, has already launched a publishing franchise of sorts. A sequel, "Bella Tuscany," is on paperback bestseller lists, and Broadway Books will issue coffee-table book "Frances Mayes in Tuscany" in the fall.

Mayes was repped by Curtis Brown's Ed Wintle. Miramax was repped by legal and business affairs veep Eric Roth and West Coast prexy Mark Gill, who brought the project to the company.