Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams Circling Tom Ford's 'Nocturnal Animals'

George Clooney is producing the adaptation with his Smokehouse Pictures partner Grant Heslov.

Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal are circling Nocturnal Animals, the thriller that's marking the return of fashion designer Tom Ford to the director's chair for the first time since 2009's A Single Man.

Adams is in talks to star while sources say Gyllenhaal is attached to star as the male lead.

Insiders also say that Joaquin Phoenix and Aaron Taylor-Johnson are also being sought for leading roles.

Wright's book was initially published in 1993 and tells of a woman named Susan who receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband, a man whom she left 20 years earlier, asking for her opinion.

The book then tracks two stories: the story in the novel, titled Nocturnal Animals, which tells of a man whose family vacation turns violent and deadly; and the story of Susan, who finds herself recalling her first marriage and confronting some dark truths about herself.

The project is still being packaged and is not set up at a studio. Smokehouse has a first-look deal with Sony.

Adams is prepping to shoot The Story of Your Life, while Gyllenhaal, whose Nightcrawler garnered him much acclaim, just wrapped a Broadway run starring in Constellations. He has three movies in the can, including Southpaw, Everest and Demolition.