David Fincher might direct mystery Gone Girl, based on the best-selling novel

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

David Fincher is going from THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO to GONE GIRL. Maybe.

Deadline.com is reporting that Fincher is “eyeing” an adaptation of the bestselling novel GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn. Reese Witherspoon is producing – and could star – while 20th Century Fox will distribute. (The studio reportedly paid a hefty seven figures for the rights.)

The short version of the synopsis? A woman disappears on the day of her fifth anniversary and all roads point to her husband as the killer.

The book (which I’m reading now, as it happens) cuts between the husband’s POV as he deals with the disappearance and suspicion, and the wife’s journal, in which she details the minutia of their life together. It’s a fascinating read, and it shall be interesting to see how a movie handles the narrative.

Here’s the book’s official synopsis:

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?

Reese Witherspoon