‘Gone Girl’: Love the book? Watch the trailer

Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” is one of those bestselling novels that’s making a swift transition to movie screens. The thriller first went to No. 1 on The Times’ bestseller list in June 2012 and in October of this year it’ll be in theaters. Starring Ben Affleck, no less, as the golden-boy-turned-suspect Nick Dunne.

The first trailer for the film debuted this week; see it here. It makes clear what the movie is about: Perfect couple, wife goes missing, and husband remembers halcyon scenes but -- something is amiss. Police go through his garbage. Media attention comes his way. The action plays out to a creepy Richard Butler cover of Charles Aznavour’s “She.”

What lies underneath the gloss of the Dunnes’ picture-perfect marriage? Should Nick Dunne be a suspect, or is he a victim? Of course, anyone who has read “Gone Girl” knows the answer to these questions. And a lot of people have read “Gone Girl,” which after taking a short break returned to our bestseller list for a total, so far, of 75 weeks.

Does it matter that so many prime viewers know what will happen when “Gone Girl” ends? The movie is directed by David Fincher, who, with “Fight Club” and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” has proved he can take a big, thrilling bestseller and turn it into a hit film. In those cases, readers turned out to watch -- and viewers became readers.

“Gone Girl” is now in paperback. There is less than six months to read it before the film opens Oct. 3 -- that is, if you want to know how it ends.

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