As he celebrates the re-release of his 1995 classic, David Fincher recalls how studios were baffled by one of his true-crime-based movies not being like Se7en. The movie, which put the filmmaker on the map after Alien 3‘s disappointment, starred Brad Pitt as newly transferred homicide detective David Mills, who is partnered with Morgan Freeman’s near-retirement detective William Somerset for one final case, tracking down a serial killer modeling himself after the seven deadly sins. Nearly 30 years after its hit release, Fincher has crafted a restored, 4K version of Se7en, which hit theaters on January 3.
In the wake of Se7en‘s success, Fincher would become well-known for his work in the thriller genre, ranging from the Michael Douglas-led The Game to the American remake/adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Netflix adaptation of The Killer. He’s also frequently adapted true stories for the screen, including the Facebook origin story of The Social Network, the Hollywood-set Mank and serial killer-investigating Mindhunter. Before his short-lived Netflix show hit the platform, though, there was one other infamous true story Fincher explored in film.
David Fincher Recalls Studios’ Confusion Comparing Zodiac To Se7en
“This Isn’t Se7en”
Based on Robert Graysmith’s Zodiac and Zodiac Unmasked, Fincher’s Zodiac movie follows the investigators and reporters who are taunted by an unidentified serial killer responsible for the murder of five known victims in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late ’60s. To research the movie, Fincher and his team spent extensive time going through official records as well as interviewing those who were close to the Zodiac case.
In a talk with Variety for Se7en‘s re-release, Fincher recalls the studios comparing Zodiac to his 1995 classic. The director reveals that when he showed Warner Bros. the 2007 film, their reaction was, “This isn’t Se7en.” Fincher explains that he wanted the audience to “endure the length of the movie” about a “35-year failed investigation” and about “how this investigation takes all of them to the edge of what seems like a reasonable expectation for justice.” Check out what the director said below:
I do remember on multiple occasions sitting with [executives] Jeff Robinov and Lynn Harris and Marc Evans and Brad Weston and Brad Gray and saying, “This is not Se7en. This is a different thing. We need to feel when we walk out of the movie and go try and find our car that we’ve been through a 35-year investigation.” Now, we want people to enjoy the ride. I don’t want them to endure the movie. But I do want them to endure the length of the movie and I want them to get lost in parts of it. That’s what it was about.
We bought a book by a cartoonist about his personal perspective on a 35-year failed investigation into Arthur Leigh Allen. The attempt here was not to recreate the ‘70s or even recreate San Francisco. It was to say, “You’re going to meet this guy, and we’re going to see him try to poke his way into the tent and be part of something that isn’t about cartooning, and we’re going to see how this investigation takes all of them to the edge of what seems like a reasonable expectation for justice.” We talked about that ad nauseam.
I remember when we showed the film to Warner Brothers, and they were like, “This isn’t Se7en.” I was like, “Oh boy.” Look, I love the script to “Se7en.” There’s a pulpiness to it, and I like pulp. “Zodiac” is not that. I don’t know how much I was thinking in terms of, “well, this’ll close out the aughts.” I just felt like there’s that kind of serial killer movie, and then there’s this. And I don’t even know if “Zodiac” really is a, I mean, certainly, it’s about a serial killer, but it’s really, it’s a newspaper movie at its marrow.
Our Take On Zodiac’s Comparisons To Se7en
Zodiac Sheds Light On The Infamous Manhunt
Zodiac can be a frustrating film, especially when compared to Se7en. Jake Gyllenhaal’s cartoonist seems like the only one who’s still going on about the investigation near the end, and while Fincher’s true-crime film is about the Zodiac Killer, the identity of the killer is never truly revealed. There’s only what’s being revealed about him in the investigation, thus not giving the audience the satisfaction of solving the case, largely because it’s still unresolved in the real world.
Related
Zodiac True Story Explained: Was Arthur Leigh Allen Really The Killer?
As David Fincher’s 2007 thriller Zodiac notes, the identity of the Zodiac Killer has been a decades-long mystery, so who was the murderer?
Both Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr.’s characters worked at the building where the Zodiac Killer sent cryptic messages. Being so close to the case, the hunt took them down a path of obsession and near destruction. The latter went from being a respected Times editor to a failure, while the former never gave up, but each new discovery only led to another dead end. In the end, there’s only the prime suspect, a man named Arthur Leigh Allen. Zodiac perfectly achieved what David Fincher wanted the audience to feel from watching the movie, with it being frustration and a certain level of obsession.
Source: Variety
Zodiac is a mystery-thriller film by director David Fincher based on the true story of the Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco in the 1960s and 70s. The killer begins sending cryptic messages to various police officers and newspapers, warning them that twelve people, in line with the zodiac, will die if they do not publish his letters. The film shows reenactments of some of the lives that the killer ended but otherwise follows SFPD detectives that spend over a decade trying to find the truth behind the Zodiac’s motives.
- Release Date
-
March 2, 2007
- Runtime
-
157 minutes
- Writers
-
James Vanderbilt
- Budget
-
$65 million
- Studio(s)
-
Phoenix Pictures
- Distributor(s)
-
Paramount Pictures