It’s been so nice lately as I’ve been able to keep the casting news to a minimum, but when it’s a project I’m interested in or a director I love I have no qualms getting the word out. Such is today’s news that David Fincher has cast Ben Affleck in the lead role as Nick in his upcoming filmed adaptation Gone Girl.
Based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn (buy it here), the short of it is to say it centers on the story of a woman that goes missing on the day of her fifth wedding anniversary. Nick, her husband becomes a prime suspect.
In addition to the Affleck news, The Wrap adds word Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt are being eyed for the title role.
The news once again puts the possibility of Fincher directing a follow-up to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in the fog, not to mention his 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea remake at Disney. It also means Affleck has a full plate with this and his next Dennis Lehane adaptation, Live By Night, set up at Warner Bros. Affleck penned the adaptation of the Prohibition Era story and will also star.
I’ve included the full Gone Girl book synopsis directly below. Flynn wrote the first draft of the screenplay.
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media–as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents–the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter–but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.
[via Deadline]
