Having enjoyed critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for her work in the superb Gone Girl, Rosamund Pike has wasted no time in choosing her next project.
Variety is reporting that the British actress is set to join Oscar winner Christian Bale (The Fighter, The Dark Knight Trilogy) in The Deep Blue Good-By, an adaptation of a Travis McGee novel to be directed by James Mangold, who worked with Bale in his 3:10 To Yuma remake in 2007.
Travis McGee is a detective in John D. MacDonald’s popular mystery series, and The Deep Blue Good-by was first published in 1964. The official synopsis of the story is:
Travis McGee is a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He’s also a knight-errant who’s wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: He’ll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.
McGee isn’t particularly strapped for cash, but how can anyone say no to Cathy, a sweet backwoods girl who’s been tortured repeatedly by her manipulative ex-boyfriend Junior Allen? What Travis isn’t anticipating is just how many women Junior has torn apart and left in his wake. Enter Junior’s latest victim, Lois Atkinson.
Frail and broken, Lois can barely get out of bed when Travis finds her, let alone keep herself alive. But Travis turns into Mother McGee, giving Lois new life as he looks for the ruthless man who steals women’s spirits and livelihoods. But he can’t guess how violent his quest is soon to become. He’ll learn the hard way that there must be casualties in this game of cat and mouse.
The most recent script for the film has been written by Dennis Lehane, the novelist responsible for Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island (amongst others) with writers Kario Salem and Dana Stevens also having contributed versions.
Bale can next be seen in Terence Malick’s Knight of Cups, out this Winter; Pike will next be seen in Return to Sender opposite Nick Nolte, set for release this year.
