Rosamund Pike is in talks to play the female lead opposite Christian Bale in Fox’s “The Deep Blue Good-by” based on John D. MacDonald’s novel.

James Mangold is directing the bigscreen adaptation, with Chernin Entertainment, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson-Killoran producing for Appian Way along with Amy Robinson.

Written by MacDonald in 1964, “The Deep Blue Good-by” is the first in a series of 21 books that followed Travis McGee (Bale), a self-described “salvage consultant” who recovers others’ property for a fee and along the way gets into trouble fighting bad guys and wooing women.

Dennis Lehane penned the script, with Scott Frank working on the most recent draft.

Following the success of “Gone Girl,” which grossed more than $350 million at the worldwide box office and earned Pike an Oscar nomination, Fox and Pike seem happy staying in business with one another.

After the huge opening weekend of “Gone Girl,” Fox quickly offered Pike the female lead in its survival drama “The Mountains Between Us,” which she will shoot after “The Deep Blue Good-by” so “Mountain” can be ready for the proper weather conditions needed to tell the story.

Pike is repped by CAA and Magnolia Entertainment.