Nicole Kidman to Star in 'The Silent Wife'

Nicole Kidman to Star in 'The Silent Wife'

Nicole Kidman, who has starred in a number of high-profile literary adaptations (like "The Human Stain," "The Hours," and "Cold Mountain"), is set to bring another bestseller to the big screen, with "The Silent Wife," based on the summer smash by A.S.A. Harrison.

The novel, whose success was buoyed by residual interest in Gillian Flynn's breakthrough "Gone Girl" (which shares a similar structure and equal interest in thriller elements and bedroom dramas), was pushed in the summer and became a surprise hit. Harrison was a first-time novelist making her debut with a paperback original (instead of a hardcover); in a tragic twist, the writer succumbed to cancer just months before the book was published. Harrison never got to see what a phenomenon her slender novel would become.

Harrison's estate handled the sale of the book and development of the movie (Kidman is also a producer). "The Silent Wife" concerns a 20-year-marriage that descends into a spiral of lying, cheating, and violence, and is told from alternating points-of-view (first the husband and then his wife). The project, described as a "psychological thriller," doesn't have a director or screenwriter attached, but these elements should line up soon.