Ben Affleck may be preparing to direct an adaptation of Dennis Lehane's Live By Night, but when a chance to work with David Fincher on a high-profile project like Gone Girl arises, he'll drop everything to make it happen. Deadline reports that Affleck is putting everything aside in order to star in the film, based on the acclaimed best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn.
Fincher has been in a holding pattern on a couple of projects, a follow-up to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Disney's big budget version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, so this deal with Affleck would make Gone Girl his next directorial effort. Affleck would be taking the male lead as Nick, a man whose wife goes missing on their 5th wedding anniversary, with all of the clues pointing to him as a suspect. It's a role that requires a lot of nuance and restraint, traits Affleck should have no trouble handling.
The plan was for Live By Night to shoot this fall, but now it's being pushed to early next year, with Affleck still delivering a finished product to Warner Bros. by the end of 2014. As for the female lead, The Wrap says Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron, and Emily Blunt are being targeted. Reese Witherspoon, who is on board as a producer, isn't expected to take an acting role at this point.
