The first picture of Charlize Theron in Dark Places has been released, Digital Place said.

The actress will play the lead role of Libby Davis in the adaptation of Gillian Flynn's 2009 novel.

The film centres around a young woman who has lived a haunted life after the supposed massacre of her family by her brother years earlier. A group of murder enthusiasts force Davis to confront the fact that she might have been mistaken about the killings.

Theron stars alongside Christina Hendricks, Chloe Grace Moretz, Nicholas Hoult, Corey Stoll and Tye Sheridan in the film.

In September, it was announced that Hendricks has been promoted to a lead role in the Gilles Paquet-Brenner-directed thriller.

She will play the deceased mother of Charlize Theron's Libby, appearing in a number of flashback scenes. She had originally been cast as stripper Krissi Cates.

Dark Places will arrive in cinemas in 2014.