DARK PLACES

Charlize Theron plays a woman who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child

A24, in partnership with DirecTV, has picked up U.S. distribution rights for Dark Places, the adaptation of Gillian Flynn's 2009 mystery novel.

The film, directed and adapted by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, stars Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Nicholas Hoult and Christina Hendricks. The story centers on a woman (Theron) who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child.Years later, she's forced to revisit the events that left her life in shambles and put her brother in jail.

The deal comes on the heels of the strong success of Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. Flynn wrote the novelGone Girl and adapted it for the David Fincher-helmed film, which received critical praise and has earned $288 million worldwide.

Dark Places is a New York Times best-seller, and Flynn's second of three novels. The film rights were scooped up in 2010, with Theron eventually coming on board to star and produce.

Cathy Schulman, Matthew Rhodes, Azim Bolkiah, Matt Jackson, Beth Kono, A.J. Dix, Theron and Stephane Marsil produced Dark Places while Jeff Rice, Jose Levy, Matthias Ehrenberg, Nigel Sinclair, Guy East, Tobin Armbrust, Jillian Longnecker, Ginger Sledge and Peter Safran executive produced.

The film is an Exclusive Media, Denver & Delilah Films, Hugo Productions and Mandalay Pictures production. Bloom is handling the international sales for former Exclusive Media productions.

Upcoming films being released in partnership between A24 and DirecTV include Atom Egoyan’s Captive starring Ryan Reynolds, and Julius Avery’s directorial debut Son of a Gun, starring EwanMcGregor and Brenton Thwaites.

A24 most recently released Laggies, starring Moretz and Keira Knightley. The company's upcoming films include A Most Violent Year starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, which premiered at AFI Fest on Nov. 6 and hits theaters beginning Dec. 31.

A24 negotiated the rights for the film with WME Global.