When reading a book, everyone has an idea how the main characters should look. So it’s always interesting (and occasionally troubling) to see how the filmmakers who adapt those books see those same folk. Now David Fincher, who is gearing up to make a thriller based on Gillian Flynn’s bestseller Gone Girl, thinks Ben Affleck could be the right man to play Nick Dunne.
Gone Girl’s story kicks off on Nick and Amy’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 Dunne isn’t doing himself any favours with cringe-worthy daydreams about smashing his wife’s head, but hearing from Amy through flashbacks in her diary reveals that the perky 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’s golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behaviour.
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.
Affleck is in negotiations for the Nick role, and he’s been juggling his schedule to see if he can make it work. Warner Bros. apparently believes he’ll be able to act in this one in the autumn as he prepares to direct his next film, Live By Night, in January.
If he does sign, he’ll need a female counterpart to play Amy, and according to The Wrap, the likes of Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman and Emily Blunt are all being considered. So tell us: do you see Affleck as the man to play Nick? Would you choose someone else?