One of the surprise hits of the summer reading season, Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl" only continues to pick up steam. Striking away from the scores of "Fifty Shades of Grey" imitators, the book has cut its own path to success. And now, as Deadline reports, the film is currently being adapted into a film. 20th Century Fox reportedly bought the rights for seven figures in a meeting with Flynn this summer. Reese Witherspoon will star, and produce with Bruna Papandrea, and Leslie Dixon. Flynn is on board to write the screenplay.
"It's a trickier book, but I don't think it's so much more wildly well-written than the other two, that it's 'Oh, I finally figured out how to write a book.' But I do think it's the subject matter, the male-female narrator, that push-and-pull between the two narrators and what it's like to be in a long-term relationship," says author Flynn analyzing her book's success.
"It has a lot of entry points for readers - what it feels to be a guy right now, which Nick kind of thinks about a lot; what it feels like to be a woman right now; what it feels like to lose your job right now in this economy; what it feels like to be in the Midwest. So I think there's a lot of things people like to compare notes on, and I think that's why it's been so embraced by book clubs. It has a lot of things to agree or disagree with."
Of course, subject matter, and characters aren't the only thing driving the book's sales. The wild popularity of "Gone Girl" has been helped in large part to bookseller enthusiasm for the novel. Flynn's book has become very hot with book clubs. It was an Indie Next pick of independent booksellers, an Amazon Best Books of the Month selection for June, and a "First Read" selection of NPR. Real Simple, Jezebel and Martha Stewart Living also all selected it for their online book clubs.
"We published it thinking it would be a big hit. We put everything we had into it, but we had no idea it would do this," says Crown publisher Molly Stern. "It is the kind of success that unless Oprah picks it or there's some obvious moment, it's a very hard and frankly fun thing to analyze."
Stern also points to behind-the-scenes publishing efforts, the timing of the release, Flynn's popularity with the media, and her past accomplishments as factors in the book's success- her first two novels, "Sharp Objects" and "Dark Places," were critically acclaimed.
"But do any one of those facts make a hit like this? No. Do all of them? Maybe," says Stern. "And there's something about it being in the air a bit. Everybody's talking about one book, and this turned out to be that book."
Plot synopsis:
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. The Chicago 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.