Charlize Theron will relate to Corey Stoll in Dark Places

There's no denying this is Gillian Flynn's year; the upcoming David Fincher Gone Girl adaptation questions continue -  Why cast Ben Affleck as Nick? Isn't he too old? and Hmmm. Rosamund Pike? I can't wait to see her in Hector and the Search for Happiness but isn't she too young? See what I mean on the imdb.com Gone Girl message board. Oh, we bookish fans love putting our two cents in!
But while all that grumpagrump is happening, Dark Places, another of Flynn's thrillers headed to the screen, - is fast forwarding with Charlize Theron co-producing and starring as the novel's protagonist, Libby Day. 

Charlize is a perfect match for Libby, a woman who says of herself "I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ." The roots of her 'meanness' stem from the horrific murder of her mother and two sisters when she was seven; an act she testified that her fifteen year old brother committed. The brother at fifteen is played by Tye Sheridan (Mud) but it's the older Ben Day, still sitting in prison twenty five years later and still maintaining his innocence that thrills me; Corey Stoll. 

Stoll (above) was Hemingway in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, and was MASTERFUL as the congressman with a substance abuse issue in House of Cards, and he's got This Is Where I Leave You and Guillermo Del Toro's The Strain coming soon. His face - huge, strong, soulful, not an ounce of pretty boy but powerfully magnetic - is simply inherently watchable. I am beside myself at the idea of Stoll in this part. 

Also on board, Christina Hendricks as a stripper who once accused Ben of an awful, awful act - before and completely separate from the murder charge.  Clearly Hendricks has the body and she's got a cat that ate the canary look that lets you know she knows it'll take a moment to get past the Rubenesque surprise of her; that when you do you'll see the talent. It's all there, her character's inner lives playing just beneath the surface of her face.
Her stripper is just one of the characters Libby encounters; spurred on by a bizarre group obsessed with solving old crimes called The Kill Club, the almost broke Libby goes on a countrywide search for the truth - in exchange for a fee from the club! 

In place since this past April, the much in demand Chloe Moretz, plays the younger version of Diondra, - with Andrea Roth portraying the older Diondra, a character who is less than kind to Ben. it's always disconcerting to remember Moretz is only 15ish; yes she was sweet in HUGO but never forget she's that KickAss girl and Carrie in Carrie;  Moretz will also be Mia in the screen adaptation of Gayle Foreman's If I Stay.
Giles Paquet-Brenner has written the screenplay and will direct; set to land in theaters next fall, the film should get going this autumn. To see the rest of the film's lineup, check into their imdb listing here.
UPDATED: Release date set for September 1, 2014.