Amy Adams Set to Star in Psychological Thriller ‘Dark Places’

After breaking out with lighter, perkier character such the ones she played in Junebug, Enchanted and Julie & Julia, Amy Adams has established herself as a solid dramatic presence as well, culminating in an Oscar nomination for her role in The Fighter a couple of years ago.

And she is not done diversifying her body of work as Variety reports that Adams is in negotiations to star in an adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel Dark Places. The film will revolve around a woman who, at the age of 7, witnessed her family getting murdered and notoriously testified again her brother as the murderer. Twenty-five years later, a group obsessed with solving notorious crimes confronts her to uncover the truth about the crime.

The premise sounds a bit sketchy but having not read the book, I can’t really comment on where the story is going. Hopefully, Gilles Paquet-Brenner (Sarah Keys), who wrote the script, will be able to make something out of this. The fact that Adams chose to star in this project is nonetheless a good sign.

The actress just wrapped Man of Steel as well as the baseball drama Trouble with the Curve with Clint Eastwood. She’s currently working on Spike Jonze’s untitled movie, and is set to appear in Paul Thomas Anderson’s much anticipated The Master later this year.

Read the synopsis for Gillian Flynn’s 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. [Amazon]