A little bit of Hollywood may be coming to Cape Girardeau to film 20th Century Fox's adaptation of the best-selling novel Gone Girl.
City officials say the studio started inquiring about filming in Cape Girardeau in late April. Gillian Flynn's dark psychological thriller has been on The New York Times bestseller list for 55 consecutive weeks, and is based in the fictional Mississippi River town of North Carthage, Missouri.
Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director Chuck Martin says scouts and location managers have been checking out homes, bars and streets for the past few weeks:
"I think that we have a wonderful mix of new, a wonderful mix of old. I think the one thing that was expressed to me that they truly loved was the fact of being able to film on Main Street with some 19th century buildings and having this wonderful Bill Emerson Bridge in the background."
Martin says the deal is not yet done and he does not have any verbal agreement that filming will take place in Cape. The Crime drama Killshot was filmed in Cape Girardeau in 2006. Mayor Harry Rediger says if it comes, he expects Gone Girl to have an even bigger economic impact on the region.
David Fincher is slated to direct Gone Girl , and several media sources report Ben Affleck is in negotiations to star. Reese Witherspoon is a producer. Filming would take around three weeks, and could begin by the end of August.
