David Fincher released Mank back in December on Netflix, six years after his last film. But with a new four-year deal in place with the streaming giant, it doesn’t look like we’ll have to wait that long for his next movie. Not only that, but he’s resurrecting a project he’s been trying to get off the ground for 14 years.
Fincher will direct The Killer for Netflix. It’s an adaptation of Alexis Nolent‘s French graphic novel, and Fincher has been connected to the project for over a decade, but it never truly got going. But it reportedly has renewed momentum since he moved it from Paramount to Netflix.
Excitingly, Andrew Kevin Walker – who previously wrote Fincher’s Se7en – is on board to pen the adaptation, and Fincher reportedly has his eye on Michael Fassbender to star.
The Killer follows a cold-blooded assassin who starts to experience an existential crisis as he begins to grow a conscience in a world with no moral compass. Brad Pitt was reportedly circling the lead role at one point, back when the film was in development at Paramount. But when the studio put it in turnaround, it allowed Fincher to take the project elsewhere.
This is tremendously exciting, especially for Fincher fans who perhaps weren’t as enamoured with Mank as some. Fincher has always been brilliant at examining dark characters. Think the power-hungry drive to succeed at the core of The Social Network, Lisbeth Salander’s trauma in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, or the banality of evil within the aforementioned Se7en.
It’s surprising this project never got off the ground in the past. Perhaps studios were wary of giving Fincher the budget he asked for. If you recall, that was what led to him backing out of the World War Z sequel at Paramount. He didn’t think he could make the film for under $200 million, but the studio didn’t want to give him that kind of cash.
But as with many filmmakers who have signed Netflix deals, the streaming giant seems happy to let them do whatever they want because the filmmaker is usually a brand themselves. Maybe we’ll also see Fincher tackle Black Hole or 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea during his Netflix deal; those were also projects he flirted with in the past.
We’ll wait and see if Fassbender does indeed sign on. It seems a pretty good bet – if Fincher asks you to star in his movie, you star in his movie. Production on The Killer is expected to begin in September.
#Peace.Love.TheKiller
