Kristen Stewart has landed the lead in director Scott Cooper’s (Crazy Heart) adaptation of the William Styron novel Lie Down in Darkness.  The story takes place in 1950s Virginia and centers on Peyton Loftis, a young girl whose “intense physical beauty makes her the object of her frigid mother’s jealous hatred and the target of her father’s incestuous, alcoholic lust.”  The role was covteted by both Stewart and Jennifer Lawrence, but as the latter is tied down to filming The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and the X-Men: First Class sequel for the forseeable future, Vulture reports that Stewart won the role.  Hit the jump for more.

Cooper made a hell of a feature directorial debut with Crazy Heart, and he recently wrapped his follow-up, Out of the Furnace with Christian Bale and Casey AffleckVulture’s report has no word on how soon production might begin, but a dark Southern drama seems a fine fit for Cooper, and I’m interested to see how Stewart handles the lead role.

The Crazy Heart helmer has also been attached to a number of other projects, including The Pale Blue Eye, The Emperor’s Children, and The Man in the Rockefeller Suit.  It’s unknown which, if any, of those projects is still in development with Cooper, but now that Stewart is set as the lead I assume that Lie Down in Darkness would be his next film.

As for Stewart, the actress is next slated to shoot the gritty actioner Cali.  She also has the possible sequel to Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman on the horizon, but a timetable for that pic is a little unclear at the moment given recent, uh, personal developments.