Rosamund Pike Wins Female Lead in 'Gone Girl'; Neil Patrck Harris and Tyler Perry Sought

With David Fincher putting everything else aside and focusing his attention squarely on an adaptation of Gillian Flynn's best-selling novel, Gone Girl, he's been able to attract a lot of big names to fill out the cast. Ben Affleck shifted his schedule around in order to take the male lead and work with Fincher, and Natalie Portman, Emily Blunt, Abbie Cornish, Julianne Hough, and Olivia Wilde were mentioned as possibilities to join. But quietly a frontrunner began to emerge in Rosamund Pike (An Education), and now she's been confirmed to join the film, although that may be the least intriguing aspect of the story.

Pike has landed the female lead in the film, playing a wife who goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary. Affleck is her husband who moves back to his Carthage, Missouri hometown and opens a bar, only to become the primary suspect in his wife's disappearance. Fincher, Affleck, and producer Reese Witherspoon constitute a lot of star wattage, but there may be even more as THR adds that Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry are being sought for unspecified supporting roles. Kudos to whoever predicted we'd one day see Tyler Perry in a David Fincher movie.

Filming is set to begin this September, and considering the book's popularity and the talent being assembled, Gone Girl is shaping up to be a very big deal for 2014.[THR]