First Look at SERENA, Starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper

I must admit: I've never heard of Serena until five minutes ago. But the combination of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence has me intrigued, and the fact that the film is directed by Oscar winner Susanne Bier doesn't hurt, either.

The story, based on Ron Rash's critically-acclaimed novel, sounds fascinating; apparently, this is yet another film that will allow Lawrence to play a strong female character after her work in Winter's Bone and The Hunger Games. The first look photo above and the synopsis below both come courtesy of ComingSoon:

The film follows newlyweds George (Cooper) and Serena Pemberton (Lawrence) who travel from Boston to the mountains of North Carolina where they begin to build a timber empire in 1929. Serena soon shows herself to be the equal of any man: overseeing crews, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving a man's life in the wilderness. Together, this king and queen rule their dominion, killing or vanquishing all who stand in the way of their ambitions. But when Serena learns that she can never bear a child, she sets out to murder the woman who bore George a son before his marriage. And when she starts to suspect that George is protecting his illegitimate family, the Pembertons' intense, passionate marriage begins to unravel as the story moves toward its shocking reckoning.

Sounds pretty great to me, and with a solid supporting cast including Toby Jones (Captain America) and Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man), Serena is definitely one to keep an eye on in the coming months. Production just began, and a 2013 release date is expected.