Ben Affleck Circles Male Lead in Film Adaptation of Gone Girl

Ben Affleck image via Flickr / CSIS. Gone Girl Cover Image via gillian-flynn.com.

The Hollywood Reporter reported yesterday that our very own Ben Affleck is in talks to play the lead male role in the film adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s New York Times bestseller Gone Girl. David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network) signed on to direct the project earlier this year, and 20th Century Fox and New Regency came on as co-financiers. Flynn wrote the screenplay, and actress Reese Witherspoon and Leslie Dixon are producers on the project.

Although Affleck is confirmed to star in and direct the film adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s Live by Night, Affleck would supposedly shoot Gone Girl prior to Live By Night production.

Since the book’s release in 2012, readers have been raving about Gone Girl’s thriller plot and have been eagerly awaiting casting choices for the lead married couple, Nick and Amy Dunne. The plot follows the couple on their fifth wedding anniversary when the wife—who has yet to be cast—goes missing, and her husband surfaces as the lead suspect in her kidnapping. Yeah, yeah, another crime book that is probably copying some Lois Lowry plot, is what you’re probably thinking. If you haven’t read it, you need to. I—and fellow Gone Girl readers—will assure you that you won’t be disappointed. This psychotic thriller is a bestseller for good reason.

Why, however, is David Fincher so aggressively pursuing Mr. Affleck? The character of Nick is very intriguing on paper because the readers have the opportunity to see his twisted thoughts as the plot unfolds. Without that inside look, however, his actions and behaviors will make him seem stoic and detached. Nick is certainly not one-dimensional, but we’ve never really seen Affleck in such a weirdly disconnected role like this. If this casting plays out, I’m very curious to see his depiction of Nick.

That said, readers, more importantly, have been avidly awaiting the casting for Nick’s wife, Amy. She’s obviously a key character in the plot, but Amy is also *spoiler alert* a twisted sociopath. Producer Reese Witherspoon was rumored to play Amy, but now readers have other suggestions, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Elizabeth Banks, and Rachel McAdams.

So what you think, readers? Is Affleck a good fit for Nick? And who should play Amy?