‘Attached,’ Not Yet ‘Cast’: Kristen Stewart LIE DOWN IN DARKNESS

Kristen Stewart Lie Down in Darkness ‘attachment’

This Kristen Stewart / Lie Down in Darkness post was written a couple of weeks ago, but, for a variety of reasons, it’s only now seeing the light of Web. Anyhow, in case you missed this Lie Down in Darkness "casting" update — "attached" isn’t the same as "cast" — here it is, in more detail… [See also Kristen Stewart: An Appreciation.]
In early August, Vulture‘s Claude Brodesser-Akner asserted that Kristen Stewart had landed a key role in Lie Down in Darkness, a movie version of William Styron’s acclaimed 1951 novel. Set in the American South and told in flashback, Styron’s tale centers on the young, beautiful, and ultimately tragic Peyton Loftis and her relationship with her dysfunctional parents, and, as she becomes an adult, her husband.
As per Vulture, Crazy Heart‘s Scott Cooper would direct the Lie Down in Darkness at Open Road Films. No shooting dates or names of other cast members were provided in Brodesser-Akner’s piece.
Lie Down in Darkness: ‘at a very early stage’

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Shortly afterwards, the Washington Post added an important correction — quoting Kristen Stewart’s agent Ken Kaplan — to the Lie Down in Darkness casting notice: “This movie is at a very early stage. It is unfinanced and while Kristen is ‘attached’ to play the role, there is no guarantee that, if the movie gets made, she will actually do the role. All of the reporting on this is extremely premature.”
Also from the Post, quoting a "source close to the production": “While it’s exciting to see all the interest the project is generating, the film is still in the pre-production process and no offers to cast have been made as of yet.”
Since then, Brodesser-Akner has issued an update. Here’s the gist of it, in his words:

"Kaplan has to call this [Lie Down in Darkness casting notice] ‘premature’ because otherwise it closes [Kristen Stewart] off from fielding offers on other ‘go’ pictures that aren’t in a holding pattern, waiting for financing. And sources ‘close to the production’ need to say no one has yet been approached because they need to be able to go to someone else if Stewart’s deal can’t be reached, and then said second choice will not immediately be seen as a second choice."

 Anyhow, for all purposes, at least for the time being Kristen Stewart is "attached" to Lie Down in Darkness. Her name and those of her co-stars, once they are announced, will be used as selling points so the film’s producers can find backing for their project.
Here’s hoping Lie Down in Darkness will get made and that Stewart will indeed get to play Peyton Loftis.