Should a deal be closed, Bennett would join a cast that currently includes Amy Adams (Sharp Objects), Glenn Close (The Wife) and Gabriel Basso (The Kings of Summer).
Close was last seen in The Wife, which earned her her seventh Academy Award nomination, though she lost to Olivia Colman in The Favourite.
The movie adaptation has become a passion project for Howard, who will direct.
Variety has brought word that Ron Howard’s passion project Hillbilly Elegy has expanded its already star-studded cast with the latest addition of The Girl on the Train and The Magnificent Seven star Haley Bennett.