EXCLUSIVE: Rosamund Pike will star alongside Christian Bale in the Scott Cooper-directed epic Hostiles. Cooper, who’s coming off Black Mass and the Bale-starrer Out Of The Furnace, is writing and directing this one. It is based on a nearly 30-year-old screenplay by Oscar-winner Missing scribe Donald Stewart. Cooper will produce together with John Lesher and Ken Kao, who is financing through his company Waypoint Entertainment. Production will begin in July.

Set in 1892, Hostiles tells the story of a legendary Army captain who agrees to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief and his family back to tribal lands. Pike will play a widow who undertakes the harrowing and perilous journey after the murder of her family on the plains. “It’s a journey of acceptance through the heart of darkness,” Cooper said.

Gone Girl star Pike is repped by CAA and United Agents, and she is managed by Magnolia Entertainment.