Charlize Theron might travel to Dark Places in lieu of Amy Adams

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Last May is was reported that ginger cutie Amy Adams was in talks to join the film adaptation of DARK PLACES, the hit novel by author Gillian Flynn. Things can change in such a significant span of time, however, as evidenced in the breaking news that Adams is out and leggy South African Charlize Theron is close to being in.

According to Deadline, Theron’s involvement is not locked, but there is interest on her part and the part of director Gilles Paquet-Brenner. If a deal goes through, she would be on board as producer and star.

DARK PLACES focuses on Libby Day, a woman who, at seven-years old, survived the brutal massacre of her family and testified against her brother as the murderer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club, a secret-society obsessed with solving notorious crimes, bring her to question and confront the truth of what took place that day.

Author Gillian Flynn is having a good run right now; recently it was reported that David Fincher is close to directing another adaptation of a novel of hers, GONE GIRL. Girl is gettin’ paid.

Here’s a more fleshed-out synopsis of DARK PLACES:

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club… and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer.