Jump to content

David Fincher

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Ryan1783 (talk | contribs) at 21:45, 14 August 2020. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Fincher" redirects here. For other uses, see Fincher (surname).

David Fincher
Fincher at the Paris premiere of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in 2012
Born
David Andrew Leo Fincher

(1962-08-28) August 28, 1962 (age 62)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active1980–present
Notable workFull list
Spouse(s)
Donya Fiorentino
​
​
(m. 1990; div. 1995)​

​
​
(m. 1996)​
Children1
FatherJack Fincher

David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director and producer. Known for his psychological thrillers, His work has received multiple nominations in the Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards. Born in Denver, Colorado, Fincher developed a passion for filmmaking at an early age. He first gained recognition from directing numerous music videos. He then made his directorial debut with the feature film Alien 3 (1992), which garnered mixed reviews, followed by the thriller Seven (1995), which was better received. Fincher found lukewarm success with The Game (1997) and Fight Club (1999), with the latter eventually becoming a cult classic. In 2002, he returned with a critical and box office success, Panic Room (2002).

Fincher also directed Zodiac (2007), the biographical drama The Social Network (2010) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), all of which were critical and commercial successes. For The Social Network, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director and BAFTA Award for Best Direction. His greatest commercial successes have been The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Gone Girl (2014), both grossing more than $300 million worldwide, and the former earning thirteen nominations at the Academy Awards, and eleven at the British Academy Film Awards. He also served as an executive producer and director for the acclaimed Netflix series House of Cards (2013–2018) and Mindhunter (2017–2019), winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the pilot episode of House of Cards. Fincher was the co-founder of Propaganda Films, a production company of film and music videos.

Early life

David Andrew Leo Fincher[1][2] was born on August 28, 1962, in Denver, Colorado,[3] the son of Claire Mae (née Boettcher), a mental health nurse from South Dakota who worked in drug addiction programs, and Howard Kelly "Jack" Fincher, an author from Oklahoma who worked as a reporter and bureau chief for Life magazine.[4][5] Howard died of cancer in April 2003.[1][6] When he was two years old, the family moved to San Anselmo, California, where filmmaker George Lucas was one of his neighbors.[5] Fincher was fascinated with filmmaking from the age of eight. After watching the documentary on the making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), he began making films at age eight with an 8mm camera.[5][3] He has said:

I was eight years old and I saw a documentary on the making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It had never occurred to me that movies didn’t take place in real time. I knew that they were fake, I knew that the people were acting, but it had never occurred to me that it could take, good God, four months to make a movie! It showed the entire company with all these rental horses and moving trailers to shoot a scene on top of a train. They would hire somebody who looked like Robert Redford to jump onto the train. It never occurred to me that there were hours between each of these shots. The actual circus of it was invisible, as it should be, but in seeing that I became obsessed with the idea of "How?" It was the ultimate magic trick. The notion that 24 still photographs are shown in such quick succession that movement is imparted from it — wow! And I thought that there would never be anything that would be as interesting as that to do with the rest of my life.[7]

In his teens, Fincher moved to Ashland, Oregon, where he attended Ashland High School. He directed plays and designed sets and lighting after school, and was a non-union projectionist at a second-run movie theater, as well as a production assistant at the local television news station, KOBI in Medford, Oregon. He supported himself by working as a busboy, dishwasher and fry cook.[8]

Career

1983–1991: Early work

While establishing himself in the film industry, Fincher was employed at John Korty's studio as a production head. Gaining further experience, he became a visual effects producer, working on the animated Twice Upon a Time (1983) with George Lucas.[5][9] He was hired by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in 1983 as an assistant cameraman and matte photographer[5] and worked on Return of the Jedi (1983) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).[10] In 1984, he left ILM to direct a television commercial for the American Cancer Society that depicted a fetus smoking a cigarette.[5] This quickly brought Fincher to the attention of producers in Los Angeles, and he was soon given the opportunity to direct Rick Springfield's 1985 documentary, The Beat of the Live Drum.[11] Set on a directing career, Fincher co-founded production company Propaganda Films and started directing commercials and music videos.[11] Other directors such as Michael Bay, Antoine Fuqua, Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Alex Proyas, Paul Rachman, Mark Romanek, Zack Snyder and Gore Verbinski also honed their skills at Propaganda Films before moving on to feature films.[12]

Fincher directed TV commercials for many companies including Levi's, Converse, Nike, Pepsi, Revlon, Sony, Coca-Cola and Chanel, although he loathed doing them.[5][13] Starting in 1984, Fincher began his foray into music videos. He directed videos for various artists including singer-songwriters Rick Springfield, Martha Davis, Paula Abdul, rock band The Outfield, and R&B singer Jermaine Stewart.[14] Fincher's 1990 music video for "Freedom! '90" was one of the most successful for George Michael.[15] In addition, he directed Michael Jackson's "Who Is It", Aerosmith's "Janie's Got A Gun" and Billy Idol's "Cradle of Love". For Madonna, he directed some of her iconic music videos: "Express Yourself", "Oh Father", "Vogue" and "Bad Girl".[11] Between 1984 and 1993, Fincher was credited as a director for 53 music videos.[14] He referred to the production of music videos as his own "film school", in which he learned how to work efficiently within a small budget and time frame.[16][17]

1992–2000: Breakthrough

In 1990, 20th Century Fox hired Fincher to replace Vincent Ward as the director for the science-fiction horror Alien 3 (1992), his film directorial debut.[18] It was the third installment in the Alien franchise starring Sigourney Weaver. The film was released in May 1992 to a mixed reception from critics and was considered weaker than the preceding films.[19] From the beginning, Alien 3 was hampered by studio intervention and several abandoned scripts.[20][21] Peter Travers of the Rolling Stone calls the film, "bold and haunting", despite the "struggle of nine writers" and "studio interference".[22] The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.[23] Years later, Fincher publicly expressed his dismay and subsequently disowned the film. In the book Director's Cut: Picturing Hollywood in the 21st Century, Fincher blames the producers for their lack of trust in him.[24] In an interview with The Guardian in 2009, he stated, "No one hated it more than me; to this day, no one hates it more than me."[25]

After this critical disappointment, Fincher eschewed reading film scripts or directing another project.[26] He briefly retreated back to directing commercials and music videos, including the video for the song "Love Is Strong" by The Rolling Stones in 1994, which won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video.[27] Shortly, Fincher decided to make a foray back into film. He read Andrew Kevin Walker's original screenplay for Seven (1995), which had been revised by Jeremiah Chechik, the director attached to the project at one point. Fincher expressed no interest in directing the revised version, so New Line Cinema agreed to keep the original ending.[26][28] Starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, and Kevin Spacey, it tells the story of two detectives who attempt to identify a serial killer who bases his murders on the Christian seven deadly sins.[29] Seven was positively received by film critics was one of the highest-earning films of 1995, grossing more than $320 million worldwide.[30] Writing for Sight and Sound, John Wrathall said it "stands as the most complex and disturbing entry in the serial killer genre since Manhunter" and Roger Ebert opined that Seven is "one of the darkest and most merciless films ever made in the Hollywood mainstream."[31][32]

Following Seven, Fincher directed a music video for "6th Avenue Heartache" by The Wallflowers[33] and went on to direct his third feature film, the mystery thriller The Game (1997), written by the duo John Brancato and Michael Ferris.[34] Fincher also hired Seven screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker to contribute and polish the script.[35] Filmed on location in San Francisco, the story follows an investment banker, played by Michael Douglas, who receives an unusual gift from his younger brother (Sean Penn), where he becomes involved in a "game" that integrates with his everyday life, making him unable to differentiate between game and reality.[34] Almar Haflidason of the BBC was critical of the ending, but praised the visuals—"Fincher does a marvelous job of turning ordinary city locations into frightening backdrops, where every corner turned is another step into the unknown".[36] Upon The Game's release in September 1997, the film received generally favorable reviews but performed moderately at the box office.[37] Sometime afterwards, The Game garnered enough reappraisal to be included as part of the Criterion Collection.[38]

In August 1997, Fincher agreed to direct Fight Club, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. It was his second film with 20th Century Fox after the troubled production of Alien 3.[39] Starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter, the film is about a nameless office worker suffering from insomnia, who meets a salesman, and together form an underground fighting club as a form of therapy. Fox struggled with the marketing of the film, and were concerned that it would have a limited audience.[40] Fight Club premiered on October 15, 1999 in the United States to a polarized response and modest box office success; the film grossed $100.9 million against a budget of $63 million.[41] Initially, many critics thought the film was "a violent and dangerous express train of masochism and aggression."[42] However, in following years, Fight Club became a cult favorite and gained acknowledgement for its multilayered themes; the film has been the source of critical analysis from academics and film critics.[43][44]

In 1999, Fincher was shortlisted by Columbia Pictures, as one of the potential directors for Spider-Man (2002), a live-action adaptation of the fictional comic-book character of the same name.[45] Fincher said, "I went in and told them what I might be interested in doing, and they hated it". Sam Raimi was chosen as director instead.[46][47]

2001–2010: Continued success

Eisenberg and Fincher at the 2010 New York Film Festival
Jesse Eisenberg and Fincher at the 2010 New York Film Festival.

In 2001, Fincher served as an executive producer for the first season of The Hire, a series of short films to promote BMW automobiles. The films were released on the internet in 2001.[48] Next in 2002, Fincher returned to another feature film, a thriller titled Panic Room. The story follows a single mother (Jodie Foster) and her daughter (Kristen Stewart) who hide in a safe room of their new home, during a home invasion by a trio, played by Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, and Fight Club collaborator Jared Leto. Nicole Kidman was originally cast in the lead role, but due to an injury on set, she was replaced by Foster.[49] The film was theatrically released on March 29, 2002, after a month delay, to critical acclaim and commercial success.[50] In the United States and Canada, the film earned $96.4 million. In other countries, it grossed $100 million for a worldwide total of $196.4 million.[51] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle praised the filmmakers for their "fair degree of ingenuity... for 88 minutes of excitement" and the convincing performance given by Foster.[52] Fincher acknowledged Panic Room for being more mainstream, describing the film, "It’s supposed to be a popcorn movie—there are no great, overriding implications. It’s just about survival."[53]

Five years after Panic Room, Fincher returned on March 2, 2007, with Zodiac, a thriller based on Robert Graysmith's books about the search for the Zodiac, a real life serial murderer who terrorized communities between the late 1960s and early 1970s. Fincher first learned of the project after being approached by producer Brad Fischer; he was intrigued by the story due to his childhood personal experience. "The highway patrol had been following our school buses", he recalled. His father told him, "There’s a serial killer who has killed four or five people... who’s threatened to... shoot the children as they come off the bus."[54] After extensive research on the case with fellow producers, Fincher formed a principal cast of Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey, Jr., Anthony Edwards and Brian Cox. It was the first of Fincher's films to be shot in digital, with a Thomson Viper FilmStream HD camera. However, high-speed film cameras were used for particular murder scenes.[55] Zodiac was well received, appearing in more than two hundred top ten lists (only No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood appeared in more).[56] However, the film struggled at the United States box office, earning $33 million, but did better overseas with a gross of $51.7 million.[57] Worldwide, Zodiac was a moderate success.[58] Despite a campaign by Paramount Pictures, the film did not receive any Academy Award or Golden Globe nominations.[59]

In 2008, Fincher was attached to a film adaptation of the science-fiction novel, Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke, however, Fincher said the film is unlikely to go ahead due to problems with the script.[60] His next project was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's eponymous 1923 short story, about a man who is born as a seventy-year-old baby and ages in reverse. The romantic-drama marked Fincher's third collaboration with Brad Pitt, who stars opposite Cate Blanchett. The budget for the film was estimated to be $167 million, with very expensive visual effects utilized for Pitt's character.[61] Filming started in November 2006 in New Orleans, taking advantage of Louisiana's film incentive.[62] The film was theatrically released on December 25, 2008, in the United States to a commercial success and warm reception.[63][64] Writing for the USA Today, Claudia Puig praises the "graceful and poignant" tale despite it being "overlong and not as emotionally involving as it could be".[65] The film received thirteen Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Fincher, Best Actor for Pitt, and Best Supporting Actress for Taraji P. Henson, and won three, for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Visual Effects.[66]

Fincher directed the 2010 film The Social Network, a biographical drama about Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg and his legal battles. The screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin, who adapted it from the book The Accidental Billionaires.[67] It stars Jesse Eisenberg as Zuckerberg, with a supporting cast of Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer and Max Minghella. Principal photography started in October 2009 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the film was released one year later.[68] The Social Network was also a commercial success, earning $224.9 million worldwide.[69] At the 83rd Academy Awards, the film received eight nominations and won three awards; soundtrack composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won for Best Original Score, and the other two awards were for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing.[70] The film also received awards for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score at the 68th Golden Globe Awards.[71] Critics including Roger Ebert, complimented the writing, describing the film as having "spellbinding dialogue. It makes an untellable story clear and fascinating".[72]

2011–present

Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig and David Fincher
Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig and Fincher at the premiere of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

In 2011, Fincher followed the success of The Social Network with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a psychological thriller based on the novel by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. Screenwriter Steven Zaillian spent three months analyzing the novel, writing notes and deleting elements to achieve a suitable running time.[73] Featuring Daniel Craig as journalist Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, it follows Blomkvist's investigation to solve what happened to a woman from a wealthy family who disappeared four decades prior. To maintain the novel's setting, the film was primarily shot in Sweden.[74] The soundtrack, composed by collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, was described by A. O. Scott of The New York Times as, "unnerving and powerful".[75][76] Upon the film's release in December, reviews were generally favorable, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[77] Scott adds, "Mr. Fincher creates a persuasive ambience of political menace and moral despair". Philip French of The Guardian praises the "authentic, quirky detail" and faithful adaptation.[78] The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress for Mara, and won the award for Best Film Editing.[79]

In 2013, Fincher served as an executive producer for the Netflix television series House of Cards, a political thriller about a Congressman's quest for revenge, of which he also directed the first two episodes.[80] The series received positive reviews, earning nine Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. Fincher won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the first episode.[81] He also directed a music video for the first time since 2005, "Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z, which won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video.[82] Following the publication of Dave Cullen's book, Columbine, which was adapted into a play in 2014, Fincher considered making it into a film, however, the idea was dropped due to its sensitive nature.[83] That same year, Fincher signed a deal with HBO for three television series, titled Utopia, Shakedown, and Videosyncrazy. In August 2015, budget disputes between him and the network halted production.[84] However, Utopia was soon picked up by Amazon Studios with Gillian Flynn as creator.[85]

2014 saw Fincher direct Gone Girl, an adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.[86][87] Fincher even met with Flynn to discuss his interest in the project before a director was selected.[88] Set in Missouri, the story begins as a mystery that follows the events surrounding Nick Dunne (Affleck), who becomes the prime suspect in the sudden disappearance of his wife Amy (Pike). A critical and commercial success, the film earned $369 million worldwide against a $61 million budget, making it Fincher's highest-grossing work to date.[89] Writing for Salon, Andrew O'Hehir praises the "tremendous ensemble cast who mesh marvelously", adding, "All the technical command of image, sound and production design for which Fincher is justly famous is here as well."[90] Gone Girl garnered awards and nominations in a variety of categories; Pike earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and Fincher received his third Golden Globe nomination for Best Director.[91]

Fincher and Gillian Flynn at the 52nd New York Film Festival.
Fincher and Gillian Flynn at the 52nd New York Film Festival.

In 2016, Fincher directed and produced for another series, crime thriller Mindhunter, starring Holt McCallany and Jonathan Groff. The series, based on the book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, debuted on Netflix worldwide on October 13, 2017.[92][93] In June 2017, Jim Gianopulos of Paramount Pictures announced that a sequel to World War Z was "in advanced development" with Fincher and Brad Pitt.[94] Producers Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner said that Fincher would begin directing it in June 2019.[95] However, in February 2019, Paramount cancelled the project.[96] As of 2019, Fincher also serves as an executive producer for Love, Death & Robots, an animated science-fiction web series for Netflix.[97]

In 2015, it was announced that Fincher and Gillian Flynn were working on a "modern take" of the 1951 Alfred Hitchcock film, Strangers on a Train, for Warner Bros.[98] In July 2019, it was reported that Fincher had signed on to direct Mank, a biographical film centred on Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, with Gary Oldman playing the lead role.[99]

Filmmaking

Influences

Fincher did not attend film school, but he cites Alfred Hitchcock as a major influence, as well as filmmakers Martin Scorsese, George Roy Hill and Alan J. Pakula.[100] His personal favorite films include: All the President’s Men (1976), Taxi Driver (1976), Rear Window (1954), Zelig (1983), Paper Moon (1973), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), American Graffiti (1973), The Graduate (1967), Jaws (1975) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).[101][102] Fincher suggested that Panic Room is a combination of "Rear Window meets Straw Dogs (1971)".[103] For Seven, Fincher and cinematographer Darius Khondji were inspired by films The French Connection (1971) and Klute (1971), as well as the work by photographer Robert Frank.[104] He has cited graphic designer Saul Bass as an inspiration for his own film title sequences; Bass designed many of them for prominent directors including Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick.[7]

Method

Those are the moments where moviemaking is not like writing, and it’s not like the theater, and it’s not like performance art, and it’s not like sculpting. It’s truly its own discipline. There’s nothing else like it in those moments where you go, wow, here’s an intent that was probably never even thought of by the guy who wrote the book. And yet this person who may or may not have even read the source material has found this thing. That, for me, after the previsualization, is the most exciting part of the whole.[105]

—Fincher on serendipity during filmmaking.

Fincher's filmmaking process always begins with extensive research and preparation, although he said the process is different every time. "I enjoy reading a script that you can see in your head, and then I enjoy the casting and I enjoy the rehearsal, and I enjoy all the meetings about what it should be, what it could be, what it might be", he said.[106] Fincher admits he has autocratic tendencies and likes to micro-manage every part of the production.[105][107] “He was always a rebel... Always challenging the status quo,” colleague Sigurjon Sighvatsson said.[13]

Known for his meticulous eye for detail and perfectionist qualities, Fincher performs thorough research when casting actors to ensure their suitability for the part. "He's really good at finding the one detail that was missed. He knows more than anybody", said colleague Max Daly.[106] "He's just scary smart, sort of smarter than everyone else in the room", said producer Laura Ziskin.[106] In addition, the director approaches editing like "intricate mathematical problems".[106] Zodiac editor, Angus Wall, said it was like "putting together a Swiss watch... All the pieces are so beautifully machined. He's incredibly specific. He never settles. And there's a purity that shows in his work."[106]

When working with actors, Fincher demands a grueling retake after retake to capture a scene perfectly.[88][108] For instance, the Zodiac cast-members were required to do an upward of seventy takes for certain scenes, much to the displeasure of Jake Gyllenhaal.[54] Rooney Mara had to endure ninety-nine takes for a scene in The Social Network, and says that the director enjoys challenging people.[13][109] Gone Girl averaged fifty takes per scene. In one of the episodes for Mindhunter, it was reported that a nine-minute scene took eleven hours to shoot.[110] When asked about this method, Fincher said "I hate earnestness in performance… usually by Take 17 the earnestness is gone", adding that he wants a scene to be as natural and authentic as possible.[54] Some actors appreciate this approach, arguing that the subtle adjustments have a big difference in the way a scene is carried. Others have been critical however, "[Fincher] wants puppets. He doesn't want actors that are creative", said R. Lee Ermey.[111][106]

He prefers shooting with Red digital cameras, under natural or pre-existing light conditions rather than using elaborate light setups.[112][113][114] Fincher is also known to use computer-generated imagery, which is mostly unnoticeable to the viewer.[115] He does not normally use hand-held cameras during filming, instead preferring cameras on a tripod. Fincher said, "Handheld has a powerful psychological stranglehold. It means something specific and I don’t want to cloud what’s going on with too much meaning."[7] He has also experimented with the disembodied camera movement, notably in Panic Room, where the camera glides around the house to give the impression of surveillance by an unseen observer.[7]

Style and themes

One element of Fincher's visual style is the specific way in which he uses tilt, pan and track in the camera movements. When a character is in motion or expressing emotions, the camera moves at the exact same speed and direction as their body. The movements are choreographed precisely between the actors and camera operators. The resulting effect helps the audience connect with the character to understand their feelings.[116][117] Similarly, in his music videos, Fincher appreciated that the visuals should enhance the listening experience. He would cut around the vocals, and let the choreography finish before cutting the shot. Camera movements are also synchronized to the beat of the music.[118] He also favors the use of wide-angle shots to showcase a character's environment.[119]

Some regard Fincher as an auteur filmmaker, although he dislikes being associated with that term.[102] Much of his work is influenced by classical film noir and neo noir genres,[120][121] and involve a non-linear narrative, with a number of storytelling techniques such as backstories, flashbacks, foreshadowing and narrators.[119] Fincher's visual style also includes using monochromatic and desaturated colors of blue, green and yellow, representing the world that the characters are in. In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Fincher uses heavy desaturation for certain scenes, and increases or decreases the effect based on the story or characters emotions.[122] Erik Messerschmidt, cinematographer for Mindhunter explains the color palette, "The show has a desaturated green-yellow look... [it] helps give the show its period feel". He states the effect is achieved through production design, costumes and filming locations—not necessarily through lighting used on set. Fincher also favors detailed and pronounced shadows, as well as using minimal light.[123][124] When asked about his use of dim lighting, he said bright lights make the color of skin appear unnatural. "That’s the way the world looks to me", he said.[105]

Fincher has explored themes of martyrdom, alienation and dehumanization of modern culture.[125] In addition to the wider themes of good and evil, his characters are often troubled, discontented and flawed, unable to socialize and suffer from loneliness.[126][127] In Seven, Zodiac and The Social Network, themes of pressure and obsession are explored, leading to the character's downfall. Quoting historian Frank Krutnik, the writer Piers McCarthy, argues, "that the protagonists of these films are not totally in control of their actions but are subject to darker, inner impulses".[128] In a 2017 interview, Fincher explained his fascination of sinister themes, "There was always a house in any neighborhood that I ever lived in that all the kids on the street wondered, “What are those people up to?” We sort of attach the sinister to the mundane in order to make things interesting... I think it's also because in order for something to be evil, it almost has to cloak itself as something else."[129] Fincher once stated, "I think people are perverts. I've maintained that. That's the foundation of my career."[108]

Collaborators

Over the course of his career, the director has displayed a sense of loyalty to his performers and production crew. As a music video director, he collaborated with Paula Abdul five times, and Madonna and Rick Springfield four times each. Once he made the transition to feature films, he cast Brad Pitt in three of them. "On-screen and off-screen, Brad's the ultimate guy... He has such a great ease with who he is", Fincher remarked.[107] Bob Stephenson, Christopher John Fields, Rooney Mara, Jared Leto and Richmond Arquette have also appeared in at least two of his films.[130]

Frequent collaborators, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

Fight Club was scored by The Dust Brothers, who at that point had never scored for a film. Describing their working relationship with Fincher, they said he "was not hanging over our shoulders telling us what to do"; the only direction he gave was to make the music sound as great as the score from The Graduate (1967).[131] Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the music for The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl. The musicians describe their working relationship as "collaborative, respectful and inspiring" although it "hasn't gotten any easier".[132] Howard Shore composed the scores for three films; Seven, The Game and Panic Room.[133]

Darius Khondji and Jeff Cronenweth have served as cinematographers for Fincher's films. Khondji said, "Fincher deserves a lot of credit. It was his influence that pushed me to experiment and got me as far as I did".[104] The director has hired sound designer Ren Klyce in all his films since 1995, whom Fincher trusts "implicitly".[134] Fincher has also worked with film editor Angus Wall since 1988, who has edited six of his films.[135] Donald Graham Burt has served as a production designer for five films[136] and Bob Wagner has served as an assistant director for six.[137] Lastly, casting director Laray Mayfield has worked with Fincher for more than thirty years.[138] In a 2010 interview, Fincher said, "you don’t have to love all of your co-collaborators, but you do have to respect them. And when you do, when you realize that people bring stuff to the table that’s not necessarily your experience, but if you allow yourself to relate to it, it can enrich the buffet that you’re going to bring with you into the editing room."[105]

Personal life

Fincher married model Donya Fiorentino in 1990 and divorced in 1995.[139][140] They have one daughter together named Phelix, born in 1994.[141] In 1996, he married producer Ceán Chaffin.[142]

Filmography

Main article: David Fincher filmography

Film

Year Film Distributor
1992 Alien 3 20th Century Fox
1995 Seven New Line Cinema
1997 The Game PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
1999 Fight Club 20th Century Fox
2002 Panic Room Columbia Pictures
2007 Zodiac Paramount / Warner Bros.
2008 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2010 The Social Network Sony Pictures Releasing
2011 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2014 Gone Girl 20th Century Fox
2020 Mank Netflix

Selected television work

Selected music videos

Note: For a complete list, see main article.

Reception

Critical reception

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic
Alien 3 43% (54 reviews)[143] 59 (20 reviews)[144]
Seven 81% (72 reviews)[145] 65 (22 reviews)[146]
The Game 73% (56 reviews)[147] 61 (19 reviews)[37]
Fight Club 79% (166 reviews)[148] 66 (35 reviews)[149]
Panic Room 75% (185 reviews)[50] 65 (36 reviews)[150]
Zodiac 89% (248 reviews)[151] 78 (40 reviews)[152]
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 71% (250 reviews)[64] 70 (37 reviews)[153]
The Social Network 96% (317 reviews)[154] 95 (42 reviews)[155]
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 86% (246 reviews)[156] 71 (41 reviews)[77]
Gone Girl 87% (353 reviews)[157] 79 (49 reviews)[158]

Box office performance

Film Release date Box office gross Budget
North America Other territories Worldwide
Alien 3 May 22, 1992 (1992-05-22) $55,473,545 $104,340,953 $159,814,498 $50 million[159]
Seven September 22, 1995 (1995-09-22) $100,125,643 $227,186,216 $327,311,859 $33 million[30]
The Game September 12, 1997 (1997-09-12) $48,323,648 $61,100,000 $109,423,648 $50 million[160]
Fight Club October 15, 1999 (1999-10-15) $37,030,102 $63,823,651 $100,853,753 $63 million[41]
Panic Room March 29, 2002 (2002-03-29) $96,397,334 $100,000,081 $196,397,415 $48 million[51]
Zodiac March 2, 2007 (2007-03-02) $33,080,084 $51,705,830 $84,785,914 $65 million[57]
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button December 25, 2008 (2008-12-25) $127,509,326 $206,422,757 $333,932,083 $150 million[63]
The Social Network October 1, 2010 (2010-10-01) $96,962,694 $127,957,621 $224,920,315 $40 million[69]
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo December 20, 2011 (2011-12-20) $102,068,888 $130,101,637 $232,617,430 $90 million[161]
Gone Girl October 3, 2014 (2014-10-03) $167,238,510 $199,700,000 $366,938,510 $61 million[89]
Total $858,764,264 $1,246,038,476 $2,136,548,250 $650 million

Awards and recognition

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by David Fincher

Tim Walker of The Independent praised Fincher's work, stating "His portrayals of the modern psyche have a power and precision that few film-makers can match."[139] In 2003, Fincher was ranked 39th in The Guardian's 40 best directors.[162] In 2012, The Guardian listed him again in their ranking of 23 best film directors in the world, applauding "his ability to sustain tone and tension".[163] In 2016, Zodiac and The Social Network appeared in the BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century list.[164] In addition to films, Fincher has often been admired for producing some of the most creative music videos.[118][165][166]

Year Film Academy Awards BAFTA Awards Golden Globe Awards
Nominations Wins Nominations Wins Nominations Wins
1992 Alien 3 1 1
1995 Seven 1 1
1999 Fight Club 1
2008 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 13 3 11 3 5
2010 The Social Network 8 3 6 3 6 4
2011 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 5 1 2 2
2014 Gone Girl 1 2 4
Total 30 7 23 6 17 4

Directed Academy Award performances

Year Performer Film Result
Academy Award for Best Actor
2008 Brad Pitt The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Nominated
2010 Jesse Eisenberg The Social Network Nominated
Academy Award for Best Actress
2011 Rooney Mara The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Nominated
2014 Rosamund Pike Gone Girl Nominated
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
2008 Taraji P. Henson The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b "The Membership > Obituaries: Howard Kely "Jack" Fincher" (PDF). Vol. 9, no. 2. Wolfensberger: Newsletter of the Wolfensberger Family Association. May 2003. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 18, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2010. He is survived by ... and David Andrew Leo Fincher. David Fincher is a Hollywood motion picture director...
  2. ^ Davies, Gareth A (December 23, 2008). "Forrest Griffin to show his police brutality". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2010. ...David Leo Fincher, the American film director and music video director...
  3. ^ a b "David Fincher: Director (1962–)". Biography.com (FYI / A&E Networks). Archived from the original on September 16, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  4. ^ Hochman, David (September 19, 1997). "David Fincher gets back in 'The Game'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2014. (Archived article on two pages headlined "Game Boy")
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Rebello, Stephen (September 16, 2014). "Playboy Interview: David Fincher". Playboy. Archived from the original on August 29, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  6. ^ Swallow, James (2003). "Dark and Light". Dark Eye: The Films of David Fincher. Reynolds & Hearn. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-903111-52-9.
  7. ^ a b c d Perkins, Writer Will; Albinson, Interviewer Ian; Perkins, Editors Ian Albinson Lola Landekic Will; Published August 27, 2012. "David Fincher: A Film Title Retrospective". www.artofthetitle.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020. {{cite web}}: |first2= has generic name (help); |first4= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "David Fincher: A Life in Pictures". BAFTA. September 19, 2014. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  9. ^ George Lucas-Exec Produced Twice Upon a Time Coming to DVD - IGN, retrieved January 10, 2020
  10. ^ Mottram, James (February 1, 2009). "David Fincher: "Awards are just icing on the cake"". The Independent. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  11. ^ a b c Goldberg, Matt (September 21, 2014). "The Work of David Fincher: Introduction, Commercials, Music Videos, and 'The Beat of the Live Drum'". Collider. Archived from the original on August 18, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  12. ^ Hyman, Nick (August 31, 2010). "Ranked: Music Video Directors Turned Film Directors". Metacritic. Archived from the original on January 12, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  13. ^ a b c Raftery, Brian (November 22, 2011). "Director David Fincher Takes On The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo". Wired. Vol. 19, no. 12. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  14. ^ a b Kiang, Jessica; Kiang, Jessica (September 29, 2014). "Best To Worst: David Fincher's Complete Music Videography Ranked". IndieWire. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  15. ^ Rogers, Patrick. "After George Michael's Death, a Look Back at His Most Iconic Moment". Allure. Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  16. ^ Sarreiter, Benedikt (February 2019). "Kein Schnitt zu viel". Du (in German) (889): 14.
  17. ^ Knapp, Laurence F. (2014). David Fincher: Interviews. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. p. 95. ISBN 9781626741928. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  18. ^ Pearce, Garth (1991). "Alien3: Set Visit To A Troubled Sequel". Empire. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015.
  19. ^ "Alien3 (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  20. ^ Weiss, Josh. "'Alien 3' Crew Member Compares David Fincher's Original Vision To Edgar Allan Poe". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  21. ^ "What Went Wrong With Alien 3, According To Tywin Lannister". Cinemablend. November 18, 2014. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  22. ^ Travers, Peter; Travers, Peter (September 9, 1992). "Alien 3". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  23. ^ "The 65th Academy Awards (1993) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  24. ^ Littger, Stephan (2006). Director's Cut: Picturing Hollywood in the 21st Century. London, England: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-0826419026.
  25. ^ Salisbury, Mark; Fincher, David (January 18, 2009). "Transcript of the Guardian interview with David Fincher at BFI Southbank". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 22, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  26. ^ a b Taubin, Amy (January 1996). "The Allure of Decay". Sight and Sound. p. 24.
  27. ^ Trenholm, Richard (May 5, 2015). "David Fincher returns to his Vogue-ing video days in new comedy". CNET. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  28. ^ Couch, Aaron (January 13, 2017). "'Seven' Screenwriter on How a Mix-Up With David Fincher Led to Its Gutsy Ending". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  29. ^ Turan, Kenneth (September 22, 1995). "'Seven' Offers a Punishing Look at Some Deadly Sins". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  30. ^ a b "Seven". Box Office Mojo. 1995. Archived from the original on August 30, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  31. ^ Wrathall, John (January 1996). "Seven". Sight and Sound. p. 50.
  32. ^ Ebert, Roger (July 18, 2011). "Seven (1995)". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  33. ^ Puchko, Kristy (October 6, 2014). "28 David Fincher Music Videos, Ranked". Vulture. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  34. ^ a b McCarthy, Todd (September 5, 1997). "The Game". Variety. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  35. ^ Salisbury, Mark (April 9, 1999). "Butcher my script and I'm outta here". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  36. ^ "BBC - Films - review - The Game". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  37. ^ a b "The Game Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  38. ^ "The Game". The Criterion Collection. Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  39. ^ Fleming, Michael (August 19, 1997). "Thornton holds reins of 'Horses'". Variety. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
  40. ^ Waxman, Sharon. (2005). Rebels on the backlot : six maverick directors and how they conquered the Hollywood studio system (1st ed.). New York: HarperEntertainment. pp. 253–273. ISBN 0-06-054017-6. OCLC 56617315.
  41. ^ a b "Fight Club". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  42. ^ "BBC - Films - review - Fight Club". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  43. ^ "The American dream unravelled: 20 years of Fight Club". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  44. ^ Murray, Brian (March 1, 2019). "Fight Club: A Cult Movie at 20". Law & Liberty. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  45. ^ "David Fincher's Spider-Man That Never Was". /Film. February 5, 2009. Archived from the original on January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  46. ^ Chitwood, Adam (December 19, 2011). "David Fincher Reveals What He Had Planned for His Take on SPIDER-MAN". Collider. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  47. ^ Staff, Guardian (January 18, 2009). "Transcript of the Guardian interview with David Fincher at BFI Southbank". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on September 22, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  48. ^ Calvario, Liz; Calvario, Liz (September 20, 2016). "Clive Owen Returns as 'The Driver' in Neill Blomkamp's Short Film 'The Escape' – Watch Trailer". IndieWire. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  49. ^ "Kidman Injury Jars Panic Shoot". ABC News. Archived from the original on September 23, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  50. ^ a b "Panic Room (2002)", Rotten Tomatoes, archived from the original on November 27, 2017, retrieved January 10, 2020
  51. ^ a b "Panic Room". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  52. ^ LaSalle, Mick (March 29, 2002). "'Panic' attack / Foster at her best in mindless, exciting thriller". SFGate. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  53. ^ Travers, Peter; Travers, Peter (March 29, 2002). "Panic Room". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  54. ^ a b c Halbfinger, David M. (February 18, 2007). "David Fincher - Zodiac - Movies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  55. ^ Zodiac Director's Cut DVD, 2nd Disc, Visual Effects featurette.
  56. ^ "Best of 2007". CriticsTop10. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  57. ^ a b "Zodiac". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  58. ^ "2007 Box Office". Box Office Report. January 6, 2009. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  59. ^ Horn, John (January 5, 2008). "A new sign of the 'Zodiac'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  60. ^ "David Fincher's Rendezvous with Rama Officially Dead | FirstShowing.net". December 16, 2018. Archived from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  61. ^ "Ed Ulbrich: Behind the extraordinary visual effects of Benjamin Button". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on September 12, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  62. ^ Cieply, Michael (October 11, 2008). "States' Film Production Incentives Cause Jitters". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 9, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  63. ^ a b "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  64. ^ a b "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)", Rotten Tomatoes, archived from the original on December 27, 2019, retrieved January 10, 2020
  65. ^ "See 'Benjamin Button,' just don't try to guess his age - USATODAY.com". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  66. ^ "The 81st Academy Awards | 2009". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on November 2, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  67. ^ "Confirmed: Eisenberg, Timberlake and Garfield Cast in David Fincher's The Social Network". /Film. September 22, 2009. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  68. ^ Fischer, Russ (October 20, 2009). "Casting Notes: Selena Gomez in Teen Rom Com; The Social Network Gets New Kids; The Whistleblower Gets Proven Talent". Slashfilm. Archived from the original on October 23, 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  69. ^ a b "The Social Network". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  70. ^ "83rd Academy Awards Winners". Oscars. February 27, 2011. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013.
  71. ^ Brooks, Xan (January 17, 2011). "Golden Globes: Colin Firth crowned while The Social Network wins lion's share". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on April 26, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  72. ^ Ebert, Roger. "The Social Network movie review (2010) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  73. ^ Weintraub, Steve 'Frosty' (December 26, 2011). "Screenwriter Steven Zaillian Talks The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Sequels, and How He Might Direct the Remake of TimeCrimes". Collider. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  74. ^ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Production Notes (PDF). Visual Hollywood. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 2, 2012.
  75. ^ "Trent Reznor Scoring David Fincher's Version of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"". Slashfilm. January 7, 2011. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
  76. ^ Scott, A. O. (December 19, 2011). "'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' - Review". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  77. ^ a b The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Metacritic, archived from the original on July 21, 2020, retrieved March 27, 2020
  78. ^ French, Philip (March 14, 2010). "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo | Film review". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  79. ^ "The 84th Academy Awards | 2012". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  80. ^ O'Connell, Michael (April 10, 2012). "Netflix Launching Entire Run of David Fincher's 'House of Cards' in One Day". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 20, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  81. ^ House of Cards | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Archived July 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Emmys.com. Retrieved on February 1, 2014.
  82. ^ "56th Annual GRAMMY Awards". GRAMMY.com. November 28, 2017. Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  83. ^ John Horn (April 24, 2014). ""The Library" Rewrites The Book On Columbine". LA Times. Archived from the original on November 23, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  84. ^ Rodrigo Perez (May 22, 2016). "David Fincher's 'Utopia' With Rooney Mara Is Dead At HBO, 'Videosyncrazy' Might Be DOA Too". IndieWire. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  85. ^ Otterson, Joe; Otterson, Joe (April 19, 2018). "'Utopia' Lands Series Order at Amazon, Creator Gillian Flynn Inks Overall Deal at Studio". Variety. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  86. ^ "David Fincher may have found next 'Girl'". Variety. January 22, 2013. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  87. ^ Fleming Jr., Mike (July 11, 2013). "Ben Affleck To Star In David Fincher's 'Gone Girl' For Fox/New Regency Before Directing Warner Bros' 'Live By Night'". Deadline. Archived from the original on October 18, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  88. ^ a b Butler, Robert (September 27, 2017). "Author Gillian Flynn says filming 'Gone Girl' went much better than expected". The Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  89. ^ a b "Gone Girl". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  90. ^ ""Gone Girl": A dark marriage drama becomes a "battle-of-the-sexes" debate". Salon. September 29, 2014. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  91. ^ Staff, Guardian (January 11, 2015). "2015 Golden Globes: full list of nominations". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on April 22, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  92. ^ Chitwood, Adam (June 13, 2017). "'Mindhunter' Release Date Reveals Exactly When You Can Watch David Fincher's New Netflix Series". Collider. Archived from the original on June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  93. ^ Nolfi, Joel. "Mindhunter trailer: David Fincher returns to Netflix with new drama". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  94. ^ McClintock, Pamela (June 21, 2017). "Paramount's Jim Gianopulos on Starting Over, His Fox Exit and Reviving a Struggling Studio". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  95. ^ Sharf, Zack (October 9, 2018). "'World War Z 2' Filming Date Revealed; David Fincher Still Directing". Collider. Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  96. ^ Perez, Rodrigo (February 6, 2019). "Paramount Pulls The Plug On David Fincher's 'World War Z' Sequel [Exclusive]". theplaylist.net. Archived from the original on February 8, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  97. ^ Katz, Brandon (March 11, 2019). "Exclusive: How David Fincher and Tim Miller's 'Love, Death & Robots' Made the Leap to Netflix". Observer. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  98. ^ Brew, Simon (July 23, 2015). "David Fincher's Strangers On A Train remake latest". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  99. ^ Kroll, Justin; Kroll, Justin (July 10, 2019). "David Fincher, Gary Oldman Team for Netflix Biopic on 'Citizen Kane' Screenwriter". Variety. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  100. ^ "David Fincher - musicolog.com". www.musicolog.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  101. ^ Righetti, Jamie; Righetti, Jamie (June 20, 2017). "David Fincher's 26 Favorite Movies: See His Top Picks". IndieWire. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  102. ^ a b "David Fincher: 'Moviemaking is a rat f*ck, every day is a skirmish'". Little White Lies. Archived from the original on November 3, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  103. ^ Sommers, Kat. "10 Modern Movies Influenced by Hitchcock". BBC America. Archived from the original on July 15, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  104. ^ a b "Seven: Sins of a Serial Killer - The American Society of Cinematographers". ascmag.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  105. ^ a b c d "An Interview with David Fincher". Believer Magazine. October 1, 2010. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  106. ^ a b c d e f Mockenhaupt, Brian (March 1, 2007). "The Curious Case of David Fincher". Esquire. Archived from the original on November 3, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  107. ^ a b Brooks, Xan (April 24, 2002). "Film: Interview with David Fincher". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  108. ^ a b Fennessey, Sean; Ryan, Chris (October 3, 2014). "David Fincher's Misdirections: The Movies Inside His Movies". Grantland. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  109. ^ "Rooney Mara: David Fincher Made Me Do 99 Takes of a Single Social Network Scene". Movieline. April 30, 2010. Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  110. ^ "David Fincher made Mindhunter cast shoot one nine-minute scene for 11 hours". The Independent. June 4, 2018. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  111. ^ Jagernauth, Kevin; Jagernauth, Kevin (October 24, 2013). "Producer Says David Fincher Is Averaging 50 Takes Per Scene Shooting 'Gone Girl'". IndieWire. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  112. ^ "Anarchy in the USA - page 1". theasc.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  113. ^ "The Cinematography of Jeff Cronenweth". DIY Photography. April 11, 2014. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  114. ^ "Film's cinema comeback is driven by nostalgia, not logic". Engadget. Archived from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  115. ^ Liptak, Andrew (May 26, 2017). "There's a surprising amount of CGI in David Fincher's films". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  116. ^ Kuchera, Ben (November 10, 2017). "How the director of The Social Network makes his movies look like games". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  117. ^ Foutch, Haleigh (October 20, 2017). "Watch: Video Essay Breaks Down How David Fincher's Camera Work Connects You to His Characters". Collider. Archived from the original on January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  118. ^ a b "Watch: What Makes David Fincher One of the Best Music Video Directors of All Time". No Film School. February 17, 2017. Archived from the original on November 3, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  119. ^ a b "The Directing Techniques of David Fincher". StudioBinder. July 8, 2019. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  120. ^ Lindsay, Sean (July 25, 2003). "Fincher, David". Senses of Cinema. Archived from the original on September 22, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  121. ^ "From 'Fight Club' to 'Gone Girl,' How Does David Fincher Use His Own Auteur-Style to Frame Distinctive Characters and Relationship Dynamics?". Geeks. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  122. ^ Lights, Shawn (February 22, 2013). "Achieving David Fincher's Color Palette". Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  123. ^ Nedomansky, Vashi; ACE. "David Fincher: Into The Darkness | VashiVisuals Blog". Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  124. ^ O'Falt, Chris; O'Falt, Chris (October 19, 2017). "From 'Zodiac' to 'Mindhunter': 5 Visual Elements that Define David Fincher's Cinematic Universe". IndieWire. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  125. ^ Hanson, Peter, 1969- (2002). The cinema of Generation X : a critical study of films and directors. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-8078-4. OCLC 606617292.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  126. ^ "Revisiting David Fincher's Seven". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  127. ^ "14 Signs It's a David Fincher Production". EW.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  128. ^ "Pressure and Obsession in the Films of David Fincher". The Fincher Analyst. November 11, 2018. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  129. ^ "David Fincher Is Still Fascinated By Serial Killers". Esquire. October 13, 2017. Archived from the original on January 11, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  130. ^ "Familiar Faces: The David Fincher Players - Blog - The Film Experience". thefilmexperience.net. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  131. ^ "Inside Paul's Boutique: Interview with Mike Simpson of The Dust Brothers". www.kexp.org. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  132. ^ "Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' Billboard/THR Film & TV Conference Keynote Q&A: Watch Highlights". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  133. ^ "Oscar-Winning Composer Howard Shore Talks Scoring LOTR, 'Naked Lunch' And More". The Chicagoist. Archived from the original on November 6, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  134. ^ "Sound Designer and UCSC Alum, Ren Klyce, Makes All the Right Noises | arts.ucsc.edu". arts.ucsc.edu. Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  135. ^ "Angus Wall". www.artofthetitle.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  136. ^ Abrams, Bryan. "The Credits". www.motionpictures.org. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  137. ^ "Bob Wagner". BFI. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  138. ^ "General Meeting with Casting Director Laray Mayfield". A Cause for Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  139. ^ a b Walker, Tim (October 8, 2010). "David Fincher: All the best connections". The Independent. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  140. ^ "Regrets Only". Los Angeles. May 1997.
  141. ^ Mottram, James (December 18, 2011). "The anti-social network: Why David Fincher is the perfect man for 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'". The Independent. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  142. ^ Galloway, Stephen (February 2, 2011). "David Fincher: The Complex Mind of 'Social Network's' Anti-Social Director". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 18, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  143. ^ "Alien 3 Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  144. ^ "Alien 3 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. September 29, 2014. Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  145. ^ "Seven (Se7en) Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on July 31, 2011. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  146. ^ "Se7en Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. September 27, 1999. Archived from the original on August 30, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  147. ^ "The Game Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on October 11, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  148. ^ "Fight Club Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  149. ^ "Fight Club Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. October 29, 1999. Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  150. ^ "Panic Room Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. January 23, 2002. Archived from the original on September 22, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  151. ^ "Zodiac Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on September 16, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  152. ^ "Zodiac Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. November 28, 2006. Archived from the original on October 6, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  153. ^ "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. May 28, 2008. Archived from the original on September 8, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  154. ^ "The Social Network Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. September 18, 2010. Archived from the original on October 5, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  155. ^ The Social Network Archived August 19, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Metacritic. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  156. ^ "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on December 28, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  157. ^ "Gone Girl Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on May 22, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  158. ^ "Gone Girl Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  159. ^ "Alien 3 (1992)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 13, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  160. ^ "The Game (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  161. ^ "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
  162. ^ "40 best directors | Features | guardian.co.uk Film". www.theguardian.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  163. ^ Catterall, Ali; Lyne, Charlie; Wise, Gwilym Mumford & Damon (August 31, 2012). "The 23 best film directors in the world today". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on August 27, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  164. ^ "The 21st Century's 100 greatest films". BBC. August 23, 2016. Archived from the original on January 31, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  165. ^ "The 15 Most Accomplished Music Video Directors15. Marcus Nispel". Complex. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  166. ^ Charles, Baptiste (August 7, 2015). "10 Music Video Directors You Should Know". Raindance. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2020.

Further reading

  • Waxman, Sharon, ed. (2005). Rebels on the Backlot: Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered the Hollywood Studio System. HarperEntertainment.
Awards and achievements
National Board of Review
Preceded by Best Director
for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2008 		Succeeded by
National Board of Review
Preceded by Best Director
for The Social Network
2010 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Fincher&oldid=973000997"