After a year and a half of waiting to hear what David Fincher’s next project after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo might be, the filmmaker is moving very quickly on his adaptation of the bestselling Gillian Flynn novel Gone Girl.  Fincher committed to the film as his next project just a couple of weeks ago with Ben Affleck set as the male lead, and the search began to fill the pic’s integral female lead role.  While names like Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman, and Emily Blunt were rumored, all three were subsequently ruled out due to scheduling and various other reasons.

Now Fincher has settled on which actress will take on the role, and it’s the lovely Rosamund Pike.  Hit the jump for more, including the possibility of Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry (?) joining the cast.

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The story of Gone Girl revolves around a woman who goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary, leaving her husband as the prime suspect in her disappearance.  Affleck will be playing the husband, and now THR reports that Pike has been offered and is expected to accept the role of the wife.  The part was understandably highly coveted among a number of thirtysomething actresses, with Abbie Cornish and Olivia Wilde also said to be in the mix, but Pike seems like a very solid choice.  The British actress most recently appeared opposite Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher, and she does some swell work in Edgar Wright’s upcoming The World’s End.

Additionally, THR notes that Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry are being eyed for supporting roles.  I trust Fincher’s judgment implicitly, but I can’t help but think back to Perry’s incredibly distracting presence in J.J. AbramsStar Trek.  It isn’t specified which roles they would play, and I have yet to read the book so I’m unable to speculate.  Needless to say, the comedy-leaning actors mark a bit of a departure from Fincher’s typical casting.  Filming on Gone Girl is set to begin this September, so expect plenty more casting news in the coming weeks.

Here's the synopsis for Gone Girl:

Marriage can be a real killer.

One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. TheChicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.

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?

With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around. [Amazon]