Zodiac: David Fincher's latest film : News & more

Big Thank You

2007-04-29T05:24:00.000-07:00

Hello to all the loyal fans still taking the time out of your busy schedule to read this blog. For over 18 months I have (hopefully successfully) kept you up to date with all the latest Zodiac and Fincher news. Now this movie's journey is over I and all the fellow Fincher fanatics will move our attention to Benjamin Button. Bookmark the link to find me and the latest Fincher and BB news! This doesn't meanI will update this site as details of the DVD emerge and if any more juicy behinds the scenes info comes up like this article which explains how vital CGI was in constructing the environment of the movie. It's a must read!

I also want to use this opportunity to send a out a big thank you to the many contributors who helped make this blog what it. First of a big thanks to Ezra Buzzington and Mark Bernier for taking allowing me to interview them. It was an honour boys. I know you will have a very successful career in Hollywood but I want to wish all the best anyway. Hope your movie gets off the mark Mark (hope that makes sense)! Also a big shout out to the regular readers who kept me busy with a an onslaught of emails and handy links - to judy, iggy romero, davdi yeving, eltuco and anyone else I might have forgotten a sincere thanks! I look forward to seeing your input on the Benjamin Button site increase even more!

And of course to all the readers who checked back daily for updates - I'm glad you enjoyed the site and the movie!

Yours sincerely,

Davor.

PS. I still haven't seen the Zodiac movie (angry face) - not out in Oz yet, by this rate BB will be out before I've seen Zodiac!

Box Office Results + link dumps!

2007-03-05T01:49:00.000-08:00

After what seems like an eternity for most Fincher fans the movie was released over the weekend to an overwhemingly positive reaction. Unfortunately that didn't result in a big box office weekend. Zodiac was well beaten by the "comedy" Wild Hogs - grossing $13,100,00 in 2,362 theatres. This puts it on track for a domestic total of $50 million. There's also the overseas box office to remember so all in all the movie should be in the black even before the DVD comes out! I will keep you updated on Zodiac's box office performance as the weeks go on.

In an interview with MTV's Kurt Loder Fincher had this to say about his plans after Benjamin Button:

Loder: You obviously have an affinity for the serial-killer genre. I'd imagine you don't want to make a career of it, but you are considering making a film version of "Torso," aren't you?
Fincher: I'm interested in that. I'm not interested in the serial killer thing, I'm interested in Eliot Ness. I'm interested in the de-mythologizing of Eliot Ness. Because, you know, "The Untouchables" was only two or three years of the Eliot Ness story. There's a whole other, much more sinister downside to it. And so that's of interest to me. We want to make it the "Citizen Kane" of cop movies. I also want to make a CG animated movie. And I've been talking about doing a remake of a movie I really liked in the '70s, "The Reincarnation of Peter Proud." Ever see that? And there's a World War II movie that Robert Towne is writing that I really love. All kinds of stuff. [How cool would all of those be! - Davor]

Check out this cool little tribute blog to Fincher in celebration of the Zodiac's realese - its a great page to waste alot of time on and it shows newbies Fincher's long and celebrated career in the commercial and video clip worlds

Fincher Esquire interview in an easier format.

Pictures from the Zodiac premiere from last week.

Also another great discovery thanks to my loyal blog readers - check out this website based on a documentary called Hunting the Zodiac - which explores the lengths amatuer detectives have gone to try and solve the case by themselves!

Also I'd love to give a shout out to my man Mark Bernier - seems as he didn't make the final cut of the movie which is a shame but I'm sure he will appear on the DVD! Plus the future looks very bright for Mark with a directorial debut to appear in the future if all pans! We love you Mark!

Fan Review Thread!

2007-03-02T13:35:00.000-08:00

Thumbs up or down? Yay or nay? Classic or a flop? Fascinating or boring?

This is the thread where you can tell us all about your thoughts about the film - be brutally honest and of course warn other bloggers about potential spoilers!

UPDATE - Don't be shy guys - thousands of people read this blog every day and I know most of you have seen the film - so tell us what you think!

Box Office + Zodiac 101

2007-03-02T13:09:00.000-08:00

Will Fincher & Co. be laughing all the way to the bank come this weekend?

With the movie about to open its time for all of us to make a final prediction regarding the box office. According to Box Office Mojo Zodiac is opening to 2,362 screens which is well below Wild Hogs - opening to 3,287 screens. The big disadvantage Zodiac has up against is its long running time, which means it will play fewer times than Wild Hogs and that fact that it is rated R limits its overall appeal. And in the world where movies such as Ghost Rider and Norbit dominate we can only hope that the cream rises to the top. Having said that I think Zodiac will be the number 2 movie on the weekend and that it will gross around $15 million. With the movies excellent reviews and word of mouth it could gross $70 millions overall and I'm predicting it to be a success overseas - like most of Fincher's previous work - so $80 million overseas. We'll know the details in a few days!

For those of you who know little about the case and just want to know a little before you hit the cinema step right up to Zodiac101 - the class which shows you the most important aspects and personalities of the case. Your assignment is to watch the video below!

Link Dump!

2007-02-26T03:11:00.000-08:00

The real Robert Graysmith

Thanks to you loyal Zodiac readers we have plenty to keep us busy till the movie opens in a couple of days (by the way does anyone know if there is going to be a big glitzy Hollywood premier)?

We have two brand spanking new interivews with Mark Ruffalo and Chloe Sevigny (yes she is still in the film). Expect a whole truck load of interviews to be coming over the next few days and I'll try to keep up to date with all of them but if it's just a rehash of what we've heard before then there's no need for either of us to waste our times reading! CHUD interview Mark Ruffalo as those Dark Horizons - Mark's a very busy man!

"Gould" was kind enough to scan an Esquire interview with Fincher. Just scroll down to the third post on the page and right click Save Target As - the PDF file is nearly 6 megabytes but well worth it! Probably one of the best pieces I have read on Fincher yet - and perfect for newcommers who want to learn more about the director.

Also as a few of the bloggers have pointed out the latest episode of Americas Most Wanted featured a piece on the Zodiac killer. So if you need to brush on the case history before seeing the movie I suggest you download this. Link 1 & link 2 - hurry these won't last long! If anyone finds this show on YouTube or can upload please tell me!

Check out Jake on the Letterman show below!

Coming soon on the blog - final box office analysis and predictions!!

UPDATE - Thanks to the anon blogger who posted the link to the Benjamin Button page - never fear Fincher fans - once Zodiac is over my full attention is going to the BB movie - check out my page below - it's gonna get a big makeover soon!

BENJAMIN BUTTON MOVIE BLOG!!!

Jake vs Fincher

2007-02-22T02:53:00.000-08:00

OK we have all read the NY times article where the star and director of the movie go into a verbal slanging match. For those of you who haven't below is a sample.

Jake on Fincher's new digital film - making techniques:

“David knows what he wants, and he’s very clear about what he wants, and he’s very, very, very smart. But sometimes we’d do a lot of takes, and he’d turn, and he would say, because he had a computer there” — the movie was shot digitally —'Delete the last 10 takes.’ And as an actor that’s very hard to hear.”
“What’s so wonderful about movies is, you get your shot,” he said. “They even call it a shot. The stakes are high. You get your chance to prove what you can do. You get a take, 5 takes, 10 takes. Some places, 90 takes. But there is a stopping point. There’s a point at which you go, ‘That’s what we have to work with.’ But we would reshoot things. So there came a point where I would say, well, what do I do? Where’s the risk?”

Fincher was “totally shocked” by Mr. Gyllenhaal’s remark about reshoots.

And you the fans reaction? Does Jake have a point or does Fincher as the director have the ultimate say in what goes on the screen?

UPDATE - Thanks again to everyone for pointing out this EW article which finally explains why this movie took so long to make! According to Fincher there was lots left on the cutting room floor:

"We had to lose a lot of connective tissue and a lot of little character moments," he says with a sigh. Among the victims: Robert Downey Jr., as a boozy San Francisco reporter, lost three scenes, including "a great one of him sleeping in his car," according to Fincher. Watch for it on DVD."

Looks like another must have DVD for your collection!

Zodiac Review Post!

2007-02-18T01:25:00.000-08:00

Under this post I'll collect every link to every Zodiac review I can get my hands on to make things easier for you guys. You can find this link under then Links banner for future reference.

*Thanks for the links guys!*

Rotten Tomatoes - 86

Meta Critic - 77

Links

Positive
Hollywood Elsewhere - Positive
Emanuel Levy - Positive
Miami Herlad - Positive

Aintitcoolnews - Positive
Variety - Positive

Hollywood Reporter - Positive

Boston Herlad - Positive

The Village Voice - Positive

Variagate.com - Positive

Fulvue Drive In - Positive

Lee's Movie Info - Positive

Philadelphia Weekly - Positive

Coming Soon - Positive

LA Weekly - Positive

New York Magazine - Positive

Newsweek - Positive

Entertainment Weekly - Positive

Argus Leader - Positive
AzStarnet - Positive

Clarion Ledger - Positive

The Towerlight - Positive

Stater Online - Positive

CHUD - Positive

AufMuth - Positive

Killer Movie Review - Positive

Film Journal International - Positive

Old School Reviews - Positive

The Stranger - Positive

Internet Reviews - Positive

Cinematical - Positive

Combustable Celluloid - Positive

New York Post - Positive

Seattle Pi - Positve

Commercial Appeal - Positive

South Florida.com - Positive

Box Office . Com - Positive

Reeling Reviews - Positive

Film Freak Central - Positive

7M Pictures - Positive

Kanas City.com - Positive

Groucho Reviews - Positive

Austin Chronicle - Positive

Boston.com - Positive

AV Club - Positive

Christian Science Monitor - Positive

New York Times - Positive

The Charlotte Observer - Positive

Chicago Tribune - Positive

Rolling Stone - Positive

Premier Today - Positive

USA Today - Positive

Baltimore Sun - Positive

The Oregonian - Positive

Slate.com - Positive

Film Threat - Positive

MSN/NBC - Positive

globeandmail.com - Positive

LA Times - Positive

Chicago Reader - Positive

Film Finder - Positive

The Aisle Seat - Positive

MTV - Positive

Seattle Times - Positive

Suburban Chicago News - Positive

Los Angeles City Beat - Positive

The Flick Filosopher - Positive

Twin Cities - Positive

Maxim - Positive

Reel.com - Positive

Scene Stealers - Positive

Philly.com - Positive

One Guys Opinion - Positive

E Online - Positve

Film Stew - Positive

Christianity Today - Positive

Slant - Positive

Orlando Sentinel - Positive

Oh My News - Positive

UGO - Positive

Cole Smithy - Positive

Sover - Positive

The Movie Boy - Positive

Contra Costa Times - Positive

The World Journal - Positive

Can Mag - Positive

Time Out New York - Positive

Negative

New York Observer - Negative

Associated Press - Negative

Bradenton Herlad - Negative

SP Times - Negative

Films in Review - Negative

E Film Critic - Negative

NY Daily News - Negative

SF Gate - Negative

Wall Street Journal - Negative

Washington Post - Negative

Salon - Negative

Montreal Fil Journal - Negative

Orlando Weekly - Negative

Tony Medley - Negative

SacBee - Negative

San Diego Metropolitan - Negative

Desert News - Nagative

Zodiac marketing - fnally!

2007-02-17T13:28:00.000-08:00

It has finally begun! Let's hope its not too late and the movie makes a killing at the BO. I have noticed little Zodiac ads all over the Internte - like on the ESPN website. But first up we have an interview with star Jake Gyllenhaal. Check out the video for yourself.

On the musical side Judy has given us a heads up on the movie's soundtrack which has a pretty interesting MySpace where you can preview some of the tracks. Now correct me if I'm wrong but is this the first time Fincher is using a contemporary pop soundtrack for one of his films?

I know I've been critical of the movie's marketing before but this seems like a cool approach. Wanted ads for the movie - seems interesting. The problem with these ads is that they are placed where very few people can see them. They should be in newspapers and the movies title and release date should be a hell of alot clearer. I've been thinking about this for a while and I also believe another interesting approach would be to publish some of the letters the Zodiac killer wrote and have them featured in Internet and newspaper ads!

Tell me what you've seen of the Zodiac marketing so far and what you think of it!

Mini Fincher Interview

2007-02-13T00:24:00.000-08:00

How lucky is this guy? Miami Herald movie critic Rene Rodriguez spoke to director David Fincher over the phone and here are a few excerpts from the interview:

"I don’t think anybody made this movie in spite of their instincts," Fincher said. "I think they made it because of their instincts. People spent [money] to make this movie because they believed in the story, because it's a gripping yarn and because they believed there was something at the end of it. Although I’m sure there’s a lot of people who would have rather seen it at two hours and seven minutes."

UPDATE - Big thanks again to David for pointing out this massive and real insightful Fincher interview!

Also Phoenix Pictures senior vide president of productions, Brad Fischer says this about Fincher's meticolous research for the film:

"He [Fincher] said, 'What I'd like to do is go out and talk to all these people who are still alive — the cops, the journalists — and figure out he
chronology of events.' We did about a year of research with Fincher because of his desire for authenticity," Fischer says. "We visited all the murder sites, met with everyone involved, including Robert Graysmith. It was a long and arduous process, and a fascinating process".

Zodiac clips

2007-02-12T00:58:00.000-08:00

Overload! If you are afraid of spoilers I suggest you turn away, but if you are itching all over and you just can't wait to see what Fincher has in store for us you must click on the link below immediately! Enjoy!

ZODIAC CLIPS OVERLOAD!!!

Review and box office

2007-02-09T00:29:00.000-08:00

I'm expecting 100's of these to pop up in the next couple of weeks. Find a quick blog review here. The review got me thinking on a couple of issues that I'll pose to the readers - audience reaction and box office revenue.

UPDATE - Thanks to regular readers David and Iggy Romero for pointing out Jeffrey Wells amazing review. March 2 can't come soon enough!

Now with the exception of Alien 3 Fincher's previous movies have all been loved by audiences. Two in particular have developed a beyond cult obsession - Se7en & Fight Club and are part of the reasons why the DVD market is so huge right now. Looking at the Rotten Tomatoes ratings for Fincher's films confirms this.

Alien 3 - 33%

Se7en - 84%

The Game - 76%

Fight Club - 81%

Panic Room - 77%

So that confirms - when Fincher makes a movie it is well received by an audience, but how big is that audience. We turn to the excellent Box Office Mojo for the figures. Please note all money is in $USD.

Alien 3 - US - $55,473,545, Int - $104,300,000, Total - $159,773,545

Se7en - US - $100,125,643, Int - $227,186,216, Total - $327,311,859
The Game - US - $48,323,648, Int - $61,100,000 , Total - $109,423,648
Fight Club - US - $37,030,102, Int - $63,823,651, Total - $100,853,753
Panic Room - US - $96,397,334, Int - $100,000,081, Total - $196,397,415

Average: US - $67,470,054, Intl - $92,507,989, Total - $178,752,044

As you can see with the exception of Se7en Fincher's films have done blockbuster money. In fact Fight Club was a flop at the time of its release and only made its budget back thanks to its stellar DVD performance. Which leads me to the purpose of this post. What are you the fans predicting Zodiac's box office to be? Now we would all want this to be a runaway success like the Spider-Man or Shrek series but I want your honest opinion. We don't know in how many theatres the movie will open we can speculate. Give me your prediction for opening weekend, US total and international total!

New Zodiac TV Spot

2007-01-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

Fresh of the cutting room floor is the first 30 second TV spot from Zodiac - with trademark Fincher cinematography and editing. Tell me what you think and also if you see it pop up on the tube or the net anywhere near you. Big cheers to the anon blogger who gave this link!

March 2nd feels like a life time away!

HD & Zodiac

2007-01-20T22:03:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Jamie Stuart for the heads up on this article about the development and future of HD - definetly raises some very interesting questions. Its very tech as most of the articles are but there is enough Zodiac info there to keep you interested. It's finally good to hear some praise about one of the best cinematographers out there - Harris Savides, while all the attention has been going to the new camera being used Mr Savides has been left out the limelight. Which is a shame in my opinion because with this new technology it would be easy to sub standard work, but Mr Savides has once again out done himself as we saw on the trailer! Bring on March I say!

PS. Link is fixed - thanks guys!

Zodiac Tech gets techier

2007-01-09T11:42:00.000-08:00

Now this is really interesting. Check out the "workflow" for all the cameras and how the Zodiac movie was saved to computer. The beauty of this article is the pictures which really simply things and an MP3 interview with editor Angus Wall and tech exper Andreas Wacker.

I hope everyone get an appreciation of what the people behind the scenes have to do in order to make a movie. There is no easy job in Hollywood!

Thanks to Angus for providing this info (no relation to the Angus Wall I assume!).

Zodiac on YouTube

2007-01-04T00:20:00.000-08:00

Check out this cool fan made Zodiac short film

I like it - creepy and full of atmosphere. Tell me what you think guys.

And in other news Variety reports our good friend Mark Bernier is underway in the "pre-production" for his Glass Houses film. Mark will direct and has written the script. Having gotten my hands on the script I can't speak highly enough of it - it's great to see aspiring artists putting out quality work and not putting out crappy horror and genre films. But Mark & the crew need financing/underwriting from either a Studio, Production Co., or private monies raised through and from investors, be they foreign or domestic, or both to get the film rolling. If you feel passionate about "good" films or are looking to get your foot in the Hollywood production door this is the perfect opportunity - please email me at pinkpanther1586@hotmail.com and I will put you in the touch with the right people.

Few new pics

2006-12-25T01:32:00.000-08:00

Merry Xmas everyone - hope everyone had a happy and safe festive season!

Don't worry Zodiac fans Santa hasn't left you alone - he's got a few goodies for you.

First off - 2 new Zodiac stills! I think Downey Jr. is going to be setting quite a few fashion trends for the next season!

Also check out this cool fan made Zodiac poster - looks sweet. Now I do love the current poster they are using with the picture of the bridge but I do wish the marketers would do something like this with the Zodiac lettering. Maybe Fincher thinks if he did so he would be repeating himself from Se7en - but I just think it would be damn cool and make a hell of a wallpaper.

And finally here's is that book supplement that a few of you guys mentioned in the comments, from the new version of the Zodiac book - NOW THIS IS A MUST READ!

Also guys check the Benjamin Button page - soon to undergo a makeover with plenty of news streaming in every week!

More Zodiac tech stuff

2006-12-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

I know some of you guys really get into the technical aspects of the film. If you do you are going to love the following article and if you don't well tough luck - go watch the trailer again to appreciate it!

This story details the history of the Viper cam and the unique cinematographic feel of the Zodiac film. Here's a quote:

"Hopefully Viper doesn't look like film and doesn't look like video," Fincher explained. "It has its own patina. It's appropriate for what I want to do with the movie.... It's about the cinematography. It has a beauty to it anchored in being a realistic image and appropriate to the story; I didn't want to make a beautiful movie, it wasn't that kind of a film."

The rest of the story is quite fascinating and also has a lil tidbit of info about Benjamin Button which is lensing as we speak.

That's all for now fellow Zodiac's!

Hot new Zodiac pics

2006-11-30T00:21:00.000-08:00

You heard right! On the official site - have a look. Some breathtaking shots are in there. Mr. Savides has outdone himself with the cinematography.

Can all the Zodiac geeks unite and tell me how to save the pictures from the site?

EDIT - The pics can be found here on Flickr, in excellent quality. SORRY THESE HAVE BEEN TAKEN DOWN BY THE OWNER - IF ANYONE FINDS ANOTHER LINK TO THEM I'LL BE HAPPY TO POST IT UP!

THE TRAILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-11-16T17:57:00.000-08:00

Yes hell has frozen over and we have a trailer!!!!!!!!!!!!

CLICKHERECLICKHERECLICKHERECLICKHERECLICKHERECLICKHERE

APPLE TRAILERS LINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Watch it over and over and over again, loop it! It was well worth the wait if you ask me! I'm getting such a Goodfellas vibe from this trailer for some reason! And the official site has also gone live. Check out the cool animation at the beginning.

Also because I love you all so much and realise that not all of you can handle those big files on the Yahoo page - here is a YouTube version of the trailer.

PS. Thanks to all the bloggers who emailed the links to me while I was at work, esp Mark Bernier - I have a great feeling you'll be in the film mate! Also thanks to my sister who doesn't a clue on how to use a blog for posting the link for me while I was busy! Like I said more trailer analysis soon!

Sneak Peek at the Movie?

2006-11-16T03:49:00.000-08:00

A blogger has commonted on the previous post claiming that "Entertainment Tonight is supposed to be airing a sneak preview of Zodiac - Thursday Nov. 16th at 7pm Eastern!". So when this airs I'll be at work - so if any of you bloggers catch the segment or can tape it and upload it on YouTube it would be greatly appreciated - please leave a comment/link below.

Hoping for new fresh footage soon!

New Fincher Ad!

2006-11-14T12:14:00.000-08:00

While he's waiting for his movie to be released Fincher has directed the latest ad for the upcoming XBox360 game Gears of War. Check it out below.

Now I love Fincher but anyone could have directed this ad. He has basically just given a song to a bunch of FMV cut out scenes from the game. Having said that Gary Jules' cover of the Tears for Fears song 'Mad World' gives the ad an artistic touch and makes it an ad that stands out compared to other cliched video games ads. Check out some parodies here.

EDIT - A BLOG POSTER HAS INFORMED US THAT FINCHER WAS ONLY A CREATIVE CONSULTANT FOR THIS - MAKES ALOT OF SENSE! NICE LITTLE PAY CHECK FOR THE FINCH MAN.

Now since we are all waiting for Zodiac to be released I'd like to get a glimpse of what the Zodiac gamers like to waste their time on. DS vs PSP? 360 vs PS3 vs Wii? Tell me who you think the superior system will be.

Bad News People

2006-11-07T11:23:00.000-08:00

You know it's going to be a long week when you wake up to news like this - the Zodiac release date has BEEN PUSHED BACK TO MARCH 2! This news has also been picked up by our bloggers and reported on other websites. Talk about infuriating for the fans, no trailer and this - another blow for the patient Fincher admirers.

I can only assume that Fincher isn't happy with the final cut of the movie and needs more time to retool it. That or either Paramount has really dropped the ball on this one. - D for marketing guys!

Do any of you fellow readers know the significance of this delay? Is March a better month for the movie to be released than January?

UPDATE - Latin hearthrob Iggy Romero points out a new Jeffery Wells article and he again claims that the movie is nearing completion! He then goes out to point out a scheduling conflict Paramount has with Dreamgirls & World Trade Centre all in heavy Oscar campaigns. Now you the readers tell me what movie would you rather see and which movie do you think has a better shot at Oscars - Dreamgirls, World Trade Centre or The Zodiac?

A Se7en prequel? WTF?!!!

2006-10-31T23:28:00.000-08:00

And I thought the Gladiator prequel was the worst piece of news I've ever heard. But this takes the cake - actually this was rumoured a while (it might be even on the site archives if I'm not mistaken) but this seems like a serious attempt to make the prequel! YES YOU HEARD ME A PREQUEL TO ONE OF THE GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME - SE7EN!!!! ARE THESE PEOPLE MAD?

Bloody-Disgusting reports that New Line is handing out a treatment to potential writers entitled Virtue. The horror website claims that the movie would be released and marketed as "it's own entity, but when the finale comes to light we are hit with a revelation that we're watching the next Se7en film." This is officially the scariest Halloween on record! If the site reports any script reviews as promised I'll report it back to you!

David Fincher in the past talked about a sequel/prequel:

"I read a script two or three years ago that they wanted to make the sequel to Se7en. It didn't make a lot of sense to me. They wanted Morgan to have become clairvoyant in some way and that was the way he was now solving serial-killer cases!And I was like, 'Well, that's handy!' Its the kind of high concept you worry about. So I dont know that there is going to be a sequel. I do know that they have to call me if they're going to do it..."

This movie was going to be called 10en (refering to the 10 Commandments)! If you really need another Se7en fix I suggest you read the comic published. Better entertainment than this piece of trash movie would provide.

Zodiac screenings in two weeks!?

2006-10-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

No way you say! Well if you listen to Elvis look alike (and Fincher lunatic) Jeffery Wells that is the case. He claims Zodiac might be rushed into a few theatres after it is completely finished on the 11th of November. Now before you shoot me down in flames lets keep this in mind:

the movie is apparently creating alot of Oscar buzz so a limited release to make the movie eligble is possible
movie studios have known to screen a movie in 1 or 2 theatres well before their official release date in order to be eligble, this also includes screening rough cuts of movies!
if you've been keeping up to date with the latest Benjamin Button news (and why wouldn't you?) you would know that the movie is slated to start shooting mid/early November, now this would not be possible if Zodiac wasn't in the can, not even god like Fincher can juggle two uncompleted movies at once!

So based on the above points I'm not going to rule out the possibility Zodiac might be screening in 2 weeks. If anything is shown you know where to find the latest news!

Oh and much love to the various Jake G. fan sites and forums who frequent my page! We'll get the trailer soon enough!

Mark Bernier on the set of the film!

2006-10-25T04:43:00.000-07:00

Our new favourite actor has taken time out from his busy schedule to give us an all access areas look at the making of the Zodiac film. Here's what Mark Bernier had to write about his experiences on the set of the film:

You’d asked for more, well I’ve searched my memory bank and it is now officially empty. I’d like to start with a couple guys who were the nicest I’ve had the pleasure to meet and work with. Their names were Paul and Bill. Paul and Bill were the 2 guys who were doing Background work on the film and I believe had been with the shoot for quite awhile and often were asked to sit in for Adam Trese/Det 1 and myself, when we were “turning around”, or re-setting for a new shot etc. They were 2 of the coolest and always had something good to say. Thanks Paul and Bill, I wish for you both continued success.
On or about January 4th 2006, I was asked to the office of the casting director, Laray Mayfield. Strangely enough, her office was across the street from my first digs in Hollywood, when I’d first gotten to town in July 2001, a motor lodge called the Hollywood Downtowner. (I don’t know why it’s called the Downtowner, it’s actually in east Hollywood. “Downtown” Hollywood, come to think of it… I don’t think there really is a Downtown. Enough already, back to auditioning for Ms Mayfield. I had wanted to meet her since I'd arrived in town, so here was my shot. Lucky me. She was very cool and welcoming and she had me read both roles, which she put on tape. Then I promptly “forgot” that I’d even been there. It’s the best policy, if you ask me. Let it go. If the “role has your name on it”, then you’re getting the job. If not, there ain’t nothing you’re going to do to change that. So a couple weeks go by and I get the call from my rep. I actually said “what film?” I always figure that if I don’t hear something by the following day, then “game over”. It’s just the way I handle it. So getting called direct from my initial read was extremely groovy. (Do people still say
“groovy”?)
They offer me one day and we’ll shoot early in Feb. Then within a week it changed to 2 days in early Feb. I thought wow, “If I sit still long enough, maybe I will get “hit by that bus”.
I reported to set/location my first day, the corner of 4th and Spring. I checked in with Alison Troy, one of the AD’s. She watched out for me everyday thereafter. We’re both from New England, so perhaps there was a “connection”. She’d always ask me if I wanted to get something from catering and then she’d take me into Hair and Make-up. Speaking of which, those guys were the “stuff”. Felicity Bowring took care of my make-up, Trish Almeida, Lauren Upshaw and Kelvin Trahan took care of my hair, or rather “the lack thereof”. Kind of funny, that with my ever increasingly receding hairline, that I had 3 people taking care of my pate. "Less is more".
A couple of the other guys that were the “best” to be around were Sally Sue Beisel, another 2nd AD and Casey Storm, the costumer. Sally Sue was, I believe the one who came to me after my first day and told me that David would like to see more of me. (Thanks again Sally Sue)Casey’s eye for wardrobe and his attention to detail are incredible. He chose the best “threads” for me to wear. (There was this one shirt…I put it back. I put it back…)
I want to make mention too of Harris Savides/Cinematographer and that before seeing him work (Zodiac) he has been one of my favorite cinematographers, especially since his work on the Turturro film; Illuminata. That film is so rich and full; that I can just imagine what his “eye” will have brought us on Zodiac. Yiassou Kirios Savides! Sto Kalo! Bravo! (Strange though it is, I speak Greek and can’t help but to always find the Greeks in every town I’ve ever been in, this one just happens to be one of the masters)
You want to know about the food? If I told you, you’d want to punch me in the mouth.
Oh yeah and Adam Trese Det 1, besides being naturally funny. His “Walken” impersonation is beyond reproach and unparalleled. I know there are “others” out there who do Walken, but no one and I mean no one does Walken like Trese. Period. (Adam, I’m still rehearsing it, but once you’ve heard the master,…)
Besides the “name” actors whom you already know, I was privileged to watch the work of a couple of guys during part of one of the days; Geoff Callan as patrolman Zelms and Peter Quataroli as patrolman Fouke. This was some work. “Right in the pocket”.
That this would be the last set I would call my Dad from(he died a month and a half later). I'd call him, he was in the hospital and I'd tell him what was going on. He'd say; "Oh yeah, I like that guy, he was on..." or "Yes, I saw him in a picture last month." He knew all the actors and knew David's work as well. I called him, the very first day, right after I'd gotten out of hair and make-up and they'd put these 60's-70's style "sideburns" on me and it reminded me of him, when he was going to the company back then and he'd grown the exact same sideburns. He laughed and said something typically New England. (wicked smaaaart ass) I hope he was proud.
Again it is without reservation I will state that I was “over the moon” when I went to the audition. I was “jazzed” beyond belief to have gotten the job and totally out of my mind with joy and gratitude to have been asked to remain for those additional days, to being made to feel fully a part of the cast by Mark, Tony, Dermot and David. That from the moment I’d wrapped, till about a month after, I found myself still “intoxicated” from all that I’d experienced. Simply, the bonus was and is, that I'd been invited to “the table”. This was confirmation that “I was home”.
mark bernier

Whoa - what an insight! Once again I'd like to thank Mark for taking precious time to write this out. It gives us a real life look at what an every day actor goes through on set. Mark has been very humble throughout the process and I thank him for this, he has asked not to be called a star and remained very humble - if only more Hollywood folk were like this. All the best Mark and we hope to see you on the big screen come January when the movie is released!

Interview with a Zodiac actor!

2006-10-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

Yes another exclusive. It's my great pleasure to introduce Mark Bernier! Now to the interview!

How did you get into this acting gig?

"I missed the last two questions on the Brain Surgeon's Final and that left me no choice" Actually, if you're asking me about "How'd I get into acting?" Well and I'm not speaking for anyone else, but there was something which drove me to this art form from a very early age and I've (with the exception of a 15 year hiatus)been doing this pretty much my entire life. Specifically if you're asking(and I think you are)about the gig on David Fincher's Zodiac, I got called in to read for 2 roles. Det 1 and Det 2. I ended up as Det 2. (oh shoot, I now see the question below regarding Zodiac. Sorry I'm going much too fast. I'll slow down... How's that?)

Where would have fans seen you before?

The French Cafe at the corner of Colfax and Riverside in Valley Village. Daily. Oh, Film or TV or Theatre? Of course what am I thinking? You may have seen me in Homicide: Life on the Street on NBC, a Guest Star role. I played the bartender, Ray Davis, who the cops come to to question regarding a certain patron of my bar and in the end I end up fingering the killer. John Waters' film Cecil B. DeMented. I played an Studio Exec at a luncheon for the Maryland Film Commision. Alyssa Witt comes up to me and points a gun in my face, I say "It wasn't my idea. I'm just the Vice President of Creative Affairs!!!" Then Melanie Griffith points a gun at me and says "BAD MOVIES MUST BE AVENGED!!!" to which I say, "NO! PLEASE DON"T SHOOT ME, I DON'T EVEN GO TO THE MOVIES!!!" But she shoots me anyway. Then Cold Case for CBS as Albert Miller the "flasher"(yeah, you got it...never the guy next door...ma...never the guy next door)LAS VEGAS, as the nosy neighbor(ok,...the nosy guy next door)and most recently the Book Shop Owner in Zurich on ALIAS. Actually I was a Spy. Conduit if you will. But the Big One was as Roy Cohn in Angels in America, Parts I&II at AXIS Theatre in Baltimore 1998 a 10 week run. Those I guess would've been the most likely bits of work people may have seen.

Career higlight?

David Fincher's Zodiac and my film with Jennifer Fontaine, Ralph Kaechele and Regi Davis directing The Last Time We Were...we garnerd a Silver Remi at WorldFest/Houston and we didn't even know we had screened!!!

Career lowlight?

How could I possibly have "lowlights". I don't have enough hair left for "lowlights". My mum and dad dying. They'd get such a kick when I'd call them from my trailer on set. I miss them terribly.

How did the Zodiac role come about?

OK. Now you want the rub on this film. Yes. I'd just returned from vacation back to LA and had a call to see the CSTG Dir for this "little" David Fincher film, which at the time was titled "CHRONICLES". I was up for 2 roles. Det 1 and Det 2. I know. I know. But you know what, you never know. You just have to go and do the work. Never concern yourself with the "size" of the role. how many lines. blah blah blah. It's of no consequence. Things can change when you get in the room. Things can change when you're shooting. One is shortchanging themselves if they only go to the call when it looks "good" for them. Furthermore, we are all here to serve the story, in this case David Fincher's story. I can only hope that I've done just that, what David asked of me. This is not hyperbole(my new word. i use it every chance i get). At the end of the day, the frame will never lie. One cannot cheat it, or phone it in and when you're working with one of the Masters(read: Fincher)trust me when I tell you, he never misses "anything" and his work bares this out. So what I'm getting at is this; you've got a "minor" role, but the role is not that minor, because you "deliver" and what you've just delivered completes the picture and it's full and a living, breathing organism. At the end of my first day (and also it should be noted, that everyone and I do mean everyone were absolutely no nonsense about the work and nice to be around. I can't say enough about Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards and Dermot Mulroney and the actor who plays Det 1, Adam Trese. I had an incredible time working with all of them in front of the lens, as well as of course how gracious David was the entire time and his 1st AD Bob Wagner. What gentlemen. What pros!) One of the AD's came up to me at my trailer(my cubby...)after we'd wrapped the first day and said that David wanted to know my "availability"...I think I heard my heart stop. I wanted to make certain that I'd heard her correctly. She repeated. (Slower this time) I said of course I'm available. (No i did not say that i had to ck with my agent...yeah, right)She said that David would like to see more of me in his film and that he'd give me more to do and or say and that he'd be needing me for approximately another 7 days. Truly, I was stunned. And just as she'd said, David true to his word, had me improvise lines and action over the course of those 7 days. I (think anyway)had some very nice moments with Mark Ruffalo. What can I tell you past that? If what I said (additionally) makes his final cut, then that will have really been something. If not, I still did the work. I remained in the "moment" and I served the story. This I do know, from what I witnessed over the course of 8 days, is that David Fincher and Co including his longtime producing partner (who was also very cool to talk to between takes) will have delivered one fine film.

Impressions of the movie/script from what you've seen?

See above for my last comment and as far as the script went. I never saw a complete script. I believe it was on "lockdown". I saw and read the sides for each day as they were delivered to me. The extra bonus for me though, was being able to sit behind David(not right behind)when I was "off" and watch him work and watch "the work". I was there at every chance and watched every single set-up and shot that I could. I got a Master class! It just doesn't get any better than that.

Whats next on your plate?

Thank God, my plate is pretty full. I've finished my first feature script entitled Glass Houses, starring Sal Viscuso, Austin Pendleton, Irwin Keyes, Peter Spellos, Jennifer Fontaine, Regi Davis, Elizabeth J. Martin, Dave Mattey, Roz Cohn and myself. I will direct as well. It's a story,...well you'll have to read it. Again, not the "guy" next door. Jennifer Fontaine and I are producing this with our two companies; Scorpio Rising Films and Jackie Frost Films and we've assembled a great team including Ralph Kaechele, who DP'd our last film as well. If interested, you can find the "media package" and if there's "someone" out there who wants to talk further, then please email me and we'll take it from there. Yes, we're looking for the "dough".

Role models - on screen & off screen.

Austin Pendleton, because even when it "appears" as if he's in a minor role, he still "brings it" with the one or two lines he's been given. Example: Searching for Bobby Fischer. Austin has one line and one line only. "I could have won a pawn."(the entire essence of that film is wrapped up in his one line.) I have many people whose work I love to watch, too many to mention. But one comes to mind as well. Ezra Buzzington. Ever hear of him. This guy "brings it every time too!" Hey Ezra! Hope to do this thing with you one day soon. "Off the screen"? Is there such a thing? Yes and if you meet me at the corner of Colfax and Riverside at Marie et Cie, I'll gladly shoot the breeze with you about things other than the "business". mB

Your career asspirations are?

You asking me for the next "interview" expose from my next film. Seriously.

Any advice for aspiring actors or anyone trying to break into the industry?

Sure. Here it is. If you're doing this. Then do it. Leave yourself no "exit" strategy. If you do, you are certainly doomed and will most definitely use it. My mantra; "They're gonna have to kill me first." I also want to thank the owner of this board for inviting me to the "table". It has been an honour and an extreme pleasure and I am very grateful.

Hope you enjoyed that as much as me Zodiac fans! Stay tuned for more of Mark's exploits and experiences on set soon! Thanks again for the pleasure Mark!

Reviews - Spoilers!

2006-10-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

Three reviews from AintItCoolNews. Two outsandingly positive and one very negative. Some of the higlights include:

Its easily the best film I've seen this year and will and should become an insant classic. Not only is it a great piece of filmmaking but easily one of the best films about an investigation I've ever seen.
The movie starts out with a killer opening involving two young lovers and the Zodiac who then taunts the police with a phone call to 911. He continues to threaten and taunt sending letters to newspapers including cryptic coding and cloth of victims blood. Brian Cox also pops up in the film in a very good role as Melvin Belli who tries to talk the killer into a meeting on live morning television. We jump back and forth between the detectives efforts and the two San Fransisco Chronicle workers and years go by.
Two montages have some great Fincher flare including one that follows the detectives with writing from the letters appearing on the walls and all over the place. The one that I enjoyed the most was a cut to black for a few minutes where all you hear is newscasters talking about events that have taken place over the course of a four year span with nothing on screen except the voices of actual newscast, now I don't know if they'll place documentary footage over this but God I hope not.
The movie unfolds very much like an “All the President’s Men” meets “Klute” mystery/thriller, as the police and reporters obsessively search for the identity of the Zodiac killer. The movie elicits plenty of genuine suspense from material that could easily have become either dry procedural or routine horror/thriller, though I wish there had been a stronger sense of subtext, drawing parallels between the existence of and hunt for the Zodiac and the political strife of the 70’s (Vietnam, Watergate, increasing public disillusionment with government), which would have made the film a deeper and darker experience more akin to “The Conversation,” “Se7en,” and “Fight Club.”

Have a read and tell me what you think people!

OMFG - The Final Poster

2006-10-12T01:40:00.000-07:00

I love the people who visit this site and give me the links while I work at my office job. To all the fans - I salute you! And present to you the final version of the poster!.

How frigin good is that??? Start frothing at your mouths now. Also JoBlo reports the movie will come out January 17, 2007 in the US. With the release of the poster the wait just got a whole lot longer!

Oh and cause I love you - another set pic!

No trailer but...

2006-10-06T01:48:00.000-07:00

Well I think it's safe to say that the Zodiac trailer won't be appearing along with the Departed - we would have seen it pop up online already. So that's 2 false trailer starts, hopefully the next rumour mill pans out true! But I still urge everyone to see the Departed - no excuses there guys.

Well for the good news - we finally have some marketing and the first billboard! Love the logo, love the shot, love the atmosphere. You can just imagine Fincher's camera panning in to the Golden Gate Bridge slowlt and moving into a wide pan of the city's skyline. AHHH - I'm already there.

Finally R. Lee Ermey who played the Police Captain in Se7en blasts Fincher in this interview:

After working on Seven, you called David Fincher "a little chicken
shit." I'm assuming you guys aren't discussing a second project?
As far as I'm concerned, if a director won't even listen to an actor, that's a black mark. Fincher stuck to the script even when actors came up with ideas that were 10 times better. One of the most important aspects of acting is bringing something to the fucking table. And most actors don't. They just show up, the director says, "Action," they say the words the writer has written, and, for them, that's good enough. But it's never good enough for me. That's what made Stanley Kubrick. If anyone had any idea, he wanted to hear it. If you saw Full Metal Jacket as it was written, you would understand what I'm saying.

My thoughts? Good on Fincher! He stuck true to an amazing script from day one and turned out an amazing movie. If Mr Emrey has such good ideas about character development lets see how many scripts he's written? None! Case closed. Thanks to Spanish lovegod Iggy Romero who provides this excerpt from the latest Premier magazine about Fincher's focus.

"During production, Fincher displayed his usual perfectionism, at one point doing 15 takes of Ruffalo, as detective David Toschi, handling a photo in a file. Downey, Jr. says that Fincher afforded him some leeway, 'but even that looseness was down a very, very thin road, because he's a director who holds the entirety of the action, the meaning, and the theme of the movie between those
ears at all times."

Really amazing - such an intense man. Hopefully we see the fruit of his labours soon!

Oh and a cool new feature of the site, the official Zodiac/Fincher Amazon website - for all your Zodiac killer and David Fincher products. Great prices, shipped directly to you!

Zodiac teaser poster

2006-10-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

Well it's not real - but I'll be damned if it doesn't look might sexy!!! Posted by itzandt on the IMDB boards. Hope the actual marketing people can muster up something half as cool as this!

Very Se7enish isn't it? Picture link.
That trailer can't come out soon enough!

October 6 - THE TRAILER!

2006-09-28T02:04:00.000-07:00

Mark it on your calendars!I have it on good authority that the trailer will debut along with the release of The Departed. Not sure if we net geeks get it earlier or not - but the we have about a week to go! Of course they'll be indepth analysis on the trailer over here at the blog!

Oh and you Yanks head out to the cinema to see The Departed. You now have 2 great reasons to see it!

Fincher in MP3 form!

2006-09-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

Yes! Hear that smooth soothing Fincher voice on your desktop PC now! (Well it's not that smooth - the quality is rough). But cool none the less.

Right click here to download.

Oh and a really boring and technical piece on the taples recording of the movie.

Ezra on MySpace

2006-09-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

Our fave ator in the world Ezra Buzzington has posted a few comments on his very own MySpace that shed more light on the film! Enjoy!

Ok. So, clearly, David Fincher just can't get enough of the Buzzington, man. Just back from reshoots on Zodiac. This time it was, like, 10 blocks from my house so that was totally sweet. The other stuff they shot of me was good (according to DF) but they decided to add a lot more informants so David wrote up something different for me cos the other stuff was stand alone. Anyway, my guy this time has a plan to catch Zodiac and, according to all the grips, gaffers and assorted crew members, I was hilarioooos. So, that rocks. And this time I got a shot of me and Mark Ruffalo. Again, great guy. Smart, funny and upbeat. As soon as I can figure out how to upload from my picture phone onto my computer, I'll post it. Till then, er.... rent his movies.Oh, and mine. Go rent mine too.Loving the Fincher...Zra

[On the release date] Somebody said today that we shouldn't even start looking for it till 2007. David moves reeeeeeally slow. ie: particular. But, since these were specific reshoots or shots he wanted inserted in the already cut film, I'm still hoping for early winter.

[On Mark Ruffalo] He totally ruled. We kept making each other laugh during the takes. Loves me some Mark Ruffalo.

To Release Or Not To Release?

2006-09-23T04:03:00.000-07:00

Hispanic lovegod Iggy Romero again comes thru with more Zodiac release date speculation. And once again from Hollywood Elsewhere:

Paramount is apparently still on the fence (i.e., reluctant but unwilling to give this reluctance a full voice) about giving David Fincher's allegedly top-drawer policier a New York and L.A. debut on or before before 12.31.06. (The studio intends to release it wide on 1.17.07.) I've written two or three articles pushing for this, but I've only read an early version of the script. Since Fincher is now, according to Hammond, "completing editing and mixing and the film should be pretty much wrapped in a couple of weeks," he and his producers should simply arrange for a quiet little columnists-and-critics screening of Zodiac so certain parties can see it and respond first-hand.
Zodiac may not be all it's cracked up to be, in which case nobody has to write anything one way or the other and Paramount and the Zodiac team can duke it out between themselves. But if it's an exceptional wow, which I've been told by certain parties, then certain columnists and critics could conceivably proclaim this and the Zodiac team would have a stronger case to make to the Paramount foot-draggers.
"Sources are saying it is brilliantly made with great performances across the board," writes Hammond. "The cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards. And even though Fincher's hard edged previous films (Fight Club, Panic Room, Se7en) have received a grand total of 2 Academy nods in tech categories, this is said to be the one that could change that pattern."That is, if Zodiac receives a qualifying run in December ahead of its wide January release. If it has to wait until next year, the odds are long [for '07 Oscars] since January films are a distant memory come nomination time. But hope remains that Fincher's film will still be a part of this year's kudos story. We've been told that it's a complex situation and there are 'discussions that are probably going to take place.'
"One hurdle may be that Paramount really doesn't need another picture going for the gold this year since they already have World Trade Center and the upcoming Dreamworks'films Flags Of Our Fathers (10.20) and Dreamgirls (12.21). And although it is a completely separate entity, specialty division Paramount Vantage has a major contender in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarittu's Babel (10.27).
"But if Zodiac really does deliver the goods (as those few who have seen it believe), then how can it be denied a passport to the Kodak? After all, remember 1974. One studio accounted for three, count `em , three of the five Best Picture Oscar nominations. The movies were The Godfather Part II , Chinatown and The Conversation. The studio was, you guessed it, Paramount."
Bottom line: if Zodiac is the goodie its supporters say it is, there is no downside -- zip, nada, none -- to giving it a platform debut in four or six theatres in N.Y. and L.A. in late December. Paramount can't lose, especially given the apparent likelihood that Zodiac will need some kind of big advance sell since it's fairly long (about three hours) and doesn't end its hunt-for-a-serial-killer plot with a conventional finale.

My thoughts? SCREW THE OSCARS! They mean nothing to me any more. Look at all the past filmakers never to have won an Oscar - Scorcese and Kubrick for example. And look at the crap filmsthey award - Dances With Wolves and Chicago to name a few. John Stewart summed it up beautifully when he said Three 6 Mafia 1, Scorcese 0. The Oscars are won by snazy marketing campaigns bought by columns in Variety and the Academy awards their favourites e.g. Clint Eastwood on a regular basis. I like any Fincher fan just can't wait to see this film! Bottom line for me - forget the Oscar talk give me a trailer this century and I'll be happy! That's all for now. And Iggy you Hispanic lovegod and you other loyal readers keep the support up and spread the word. THE ZODIAC IS COMING!!!!

Another set report

2006-09-20T02:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not too sure what to make of this one. A user who calls themselves anonymousactor posted what they claim to be a "set report" on the IMDB boards. Normally I take this "set reports" with a large grain of salt but since we are desperate for any news I thought I should post this post. It's a little long but enjoyable (if true!).

I'm an actor who was used in one of the retake scenes done recently in L.A., and since Mr. Fincher's fans here seemed to really like the reports given about the Southgate shooting discussed in another thread, I'll post some odds and ends about my experience with ZODIAC/CHRONICLES. I'll be vague about some of it, because apparently there's some secrecy about this film and I'd like to work for this director again and not be branded for leaking vital information.
First of all, let me say that I hate it when people who don't know a particular celebrity personally go ahead and refer to them by their first name, as if they were buddies or something. It's more trouble to type out "Mr. Fincher" than "David" (or worse, "Dave") but isn't that who he is to us? Uggh. When I met him, I didn't say, "Hiya, Dave!" and I won't refer to him that way here.
That's probably not the type of tidbit you're looking for, though. So...
I was told Mr. Fincher likes to use unknown or unrecognized, up-and-coming actors in smaller roles, because he genuinely likes to see what unknown people can do. Although I had a speaking role, it was cast just days before filming, and the whole casting process consisted of being put on videotape in one session with the casting director (no callback)which I suppose was then shown to him. I was really shocked by this, because often auditioning for films and TV shows, even with smaller roles, is this endless, drawn-out process of meeting multiple people in different sessions and then waiting forever to hear if you've been hired. But this happened very fast.
I was surprised by how involved Mr. Fincher was with shaping these smaller performances. At the wardrobe fitting, I was photographed in quite a few outfits (all variations on the same look) and the designer then brought the Polaroids to the set so the director could pick exactly what he wanted. As I'm sure his fans here know, Mr. Fincher is extremely visual, and whether an outfit is maroon or silver or reflective or matte or long or short or whatever is important to him.
When I shot the actual scene the next day, the crew was very effecient and in good spirits. Talking with the designers while being made up and costumed, etc., I was told they considered themselves very lucky to have all ended up with a good, harmonious team, and they all enjoyed working with Mr. Fincher because he's an artist who's actually CREATING a cohesive thing and appreciates their contribution. There were all kinds of research binders in the hair and makeup trailers, containing tear sheets from 1970's magazines, etc., that could be referred to in building the film's look.
(Hmmmm...this is not as exciting or revelatory as I'd thought
it might be. Sorry!)
OKAY, I'll CUT TO THE GOOD PART: Although I just had a few lines with one other actor (one of the stars of the film), we spent what felt like hours on my scene. We did about 10 takes with minor variations, then Mr. Fincher paused to watch the scenes on playback, then we did 10 more takes and he broke for a long time to watch again. Then we did 10 more takes. Then we broke and went through the whole multiple process again with the other actor after changing the lighting around and moving to another wall of the set for their background. During the first break, the actor said to me, "Don't worry.
It's not that you're not getting it right, this is just how he works. He likes
to have lots of choices." Mr. Fincher gave some initial direction face to face when we began, then called out his direction from across the room (not really that far away) where he was watching the playback. When I had a specific question about what he wanted and asked him to paraphrase a line so I could tell what it was he wanted it to mean, he came back to where we were across the room and answered me in depth himself.
I thought this was extremely courteous, and it helped me to relax, as I couldn't completely put out of my mind that I'd just found out practically hours before that I was in a MAJOR MOTION PICTURE for DAVID FINCHER, acting with ______ ______...which hardly happens to me every day. So we did this scene again and again, and it wasn't tiring or frustrating, it was actually very stimulating, artistically, because Mr. Fincher was calling out little adjustments in the lines and the blocking and the character's motivation between each take, and it was technically challenging because I had to sense what was working for him and keep those bits in -- and try to keep them consistent -- while still trying to stay open and in the moment, to leave room to be spontaneous. I also liked that the other actor and I weren't stopped when we began to improvise a tiny bit. This made it feel more free, like we weren't locked into doing the scene a certain way in some Pass or Fail competition. Another thing that built intimacy was that the set was VERY DARK outside our acting area. It was on a huge, well chilled sound stage with lots of little fragments of sets grouped apart from each other that would be used throughout the day in other scenes. Mr. Fincher and the cinematographer both wore white shirts so the cast and crew could find them in the dark. There was also a second, smaller film crew wandering around shooting stuff for what I imagine will be a "Making Of" documentary or featurette. I tried to block them out, as concentrating on working with one film crew was enough. (Actually, they weren't terribly interested in me, anyway. So sad.)
Another thing that helped me was that although the scene was shot from two angles -- first featuring me, then the star -- this actor stuck by
me the whole time. While the crew was initially doing my lighting, they even stood in for themselves off camera where they would eventually be talking from, even though they weren't in this first shot. (Tweaking lighting is a tedious experience that can take as long, if not longer, than the actual shooting of a scene.) Some stars have the script girl cue you with their lines from off camera while they're relaxing in their trailer, but this one didn't, and even got me some water during one of the breaks. I don't know if this actor is just naturally kind, or they realized that the more at ease I was the better I would be (and subsequently, the better the scene and they themselves would be) but at any rate, I was very appreciative and quite impressed. This process actually began at the beginning of the day, when the Assistant Director made sure to
introduce me to the director and the stars right when I arrived on the lot. This kept me from then sitting around in my trailer for hours, wondering what they would all be like and if we'd get along. So by the time I was called to the set, there were no surprises and it felt more familiar.
I do have to say Mr. Fincher is the best director I've worked with in film, in that he was not only very articulate and clearly had an imaginative and specific point of view, but he was also very accessible. (Maggie Smith said that the most vital thing a director can give her is trust, because it opens the door to emotion.) Mr. Fincher seemed like he had a good sense of humor. I also appreciated him taking SO MUCH TIME with my short scene and really exploring it in a variety of ways, because usually when you play a small part like that, as long as you're in focus and get the lines right (or basically right), it's like, "Okay! We're moving on!" Usually you leave working a day on a set like that thinking, "I wish I'd done it funnier or tried playing it sexier, or maybe I should have seemed more angry," but this felt very complete because we did it just about every way.
So, that was that....and now I just hope I'm not cut out!

Set Visit + Photo

2006-09-19T02:48:00.000-07:00

Big shout outs to reader Iggy Romero who pointed out this fascinating article about the cams being used to film the movie. It does get a little technical but it is an enjoyable read (especially for us starved fans!). Geoff Boyle visited the set of Zodiac at this is an excerpt of what he had to report:

As Fincher said: “If you have a fucking clue and a passion, people will get out of your way because people want someone to follow.” Well, I think they’ll certainly be following him in the way he’s shooting Zodiac.
Fincher’s background at ILM in effects has to help, as does his desire to constantly push filming technology to its limits. From his use, with Darius Khonji, of bleach bypass for Se7en to create a dark and hostile environment, to his use of pre-visualisation, motion control and computer-generated images in Panic Room, he has always been at the edge of what is possible.
Now, with his approach to Zodiac, he goes one step further. The movie revolves around a serial killer known as ‘the Zodiac’ who operated in San Francisco during the late 1960s. Leaving several victims in his wake and taunting police with letters written to the San Francisco Chronicle and other newspapers, the Zodiac was never officially caught. The film tells the story of the killings, still one of San Francisco’s most infamous unsolved crimes, and of the four men whose lives and careers were built and destroyed around the hunt for the killer.
Mark Ruffalo plays Dave Toschi, the San Francisco detective who led the investigation, and Anthony Edwards plays his partner Bill Armstrong. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith, a San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist and later author of two books about the Zodiac, on which the film was based. Robert Downey Jr plays journalist Paul Avery and Gary Oldman stars as Melvin Belli, a lawyer who was contacted by the Zodiac.
The movie has been shot as much as possible on original locations and uses the police officers and others involved as on-set advisors. When I visited the set, they were shooting a night scene where one of the victims is found in a car. Fincher was asking one of the officers who was actually on the scene of the real crime if they would be smoking at the crime scene or not. He was determined that it would be accurate.
“People will say, ‘there are a million ways to shoot a scene,’ but I don’t think so,” says Fincher, “I think there’re two, maybe. And the other one is wrong.”

Now read the rest yourself :P. More news soon!

Zodiac tidbit from Hollywood Elsewhere

2006-09-18T05:46:00.000-07:00

Hey guys - no big updates to put recently but I have stumbled upon this lil gems to keep the anticipation levels up.

From Hollywood Elsewhere:

A filmmaker friend has passed along some info about David Fincher and Zodiac, by way of an editor pal who knows a sound mixer who worked on Zodiac a while back.
"This girl is very smart and cool," this guy says. "She's very much the San Franciso arty girl who hates a lot of Hollywood shit and is funny talking about working on all the shit she does. Anyway, she said Zodiac is fucking brilliant and so amazing and smart. I really, really trust this girl. She says the movie is great and that George Lucas was blown away by it.

"She also said that Robert Downey, Jr. gives an incredible Oscar-level performance.

"But here's my favorite detail. The first half of the movie, which takes place in the late '60s, is mixed mono when all of radio was AM and with the advent of FM, in the chronology of the film as the calendar moves into the '70s, the movie turns stereo. Such a great idea. She said that Fincher has the best ears of anyone other than David Lynch.

"The other point to make here is that if Zodiac sucked there's noway Dreamamount would ever greenlight Fincher's Benjamin Button project, which will star Brad Pitt."

Cool news isn't it? Reminds me of the idea Scorcese had for The Aviator - filimg and designing each year in the film to look just the way a color film from that time period would look - so as Hughes (DiCaprio) ages through the film, the colour gets more sophisticated and full-bodied just like the film stocks did! Great minds really do think alike!

Bijou Phillips out of the movie

2006-09-02T17:24:00.000-07:00

Only found this out today, from IMDB's trivia pages on the Zodiac film:

The role of Linda Ferrin was initially played by Bijou Phillips. His scenes needed to be re-shot but Phillips was not available due scheduling conflicts, so the role went to Clea DuVall.

Well there you go folks, news is again trickling out slowly, but the trailer is done and awaiting release so stay tuned.

How Fincher's Fight Club changed the game

2006-08-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

And I'm not talking in terms of creativity and technical innovation but DVD sales! Check out this quote from an article about Blu-ray DVD's. The quote is:

Dunn says that his studio first recognized the change in consumer taste with the release of the DVD of "Fight Club," the controversial David Fincher film starring Brad Pitt and Ed Norton as hopeless young men who vent their aggression through underground fight clubs. The 1999 film grossed only $44 million at the box office, but the DVD, complete with interpretation from Fincher, sold a 1 million copies.

Very interesting. It is a spectacular DVD set. The shame is the Australian version (which I have) only has one commentary track. None the less the DVD is an essential for any Fincher or movie fan! Must have!

And the composer is...

2006-08-20T00:22:00.000-07:00

The legendary David Shire. From the story:

Shire to score Fincher's 'Zodiac'

Composer agency Evolution Music Partners has announced that veteran composer David Shire has been hired to compose the music for David Fincher’s new thriller, Zodiac. The film is based on Robert Graysmith’s books about the real life serial killer Zodiac who committed a number of murders in San Francisco during the 1960s and 1970s. The cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox and Dermot Mulroney. It’s scheduled to be released by Paramount Pictures on January 19.

Fittingly, 69-year old David Shire was one of the most prolific and hailed film composers in the 1970s. Among his best known credits from that era are The Conversation, All the President’s Men and The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3. His other credits include 2010, Return to Oz, Monkey Shines, The Hindenburg and Short Circuit.

Great news - thanks to Tibor Kapy for the heads up.

News roundup

2006-08-16T22:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a collection of the various Zodiac news flying out there:

Two cool new pictures - from this weird Russian site:

According to Box Office Mojo the movie's official release date will be in January 19, 2007, the genre is thriller and the movie will be rated R. Also the trailer is finished - more news soon!

More on Fincher's involvement on the Black Dahlia

2006-08-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

I know I opened up a can of worms when I asked readers to post their views on The Zodiac vs The Black Dahlia but heres an interesting story about the making of the movie and Fincher's involvement. According to producer Art Linson and director Brian De Palma; Fincher wasn't as commited as most fans thought.

"Linson had been developing it for a couple of years with (director) David Fincher, but he felt ultimately that Fincher was not going to make the movie," De Palma says. "He called me and said, 'Are you interested?' I said, 'Sure.' I read the novel 15 years ago; I always thought it was great but incredibly complicated storytelling because there are so many things going on that don't appear connected together. I felt the art of (adapting) it was to keep to the spirit of the novel, not to straighten out the kinks."

Check out the rest of the article - great read.

The way of the future - the Contour camera

2006-07-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

Two related articles talking about an exciting new way that movie making is headed. Of course Fincher is mentioned.

Wall Street Journal article & New York Times article

Can't wait to see this used for Benjamin Button.

Zodiac vs Black Dahlia

2006-07-28T02:04:00.000-07:00

It's the movie Fincher tried desperatly to make. Black Dahlia directed by Brian De Palma comes out on and the trailer has just been released. So I think it's time to compare the two serial killer flicks. I want your opinions! Comment on your decision by using the following criteria:

The Book, Director, Cast & Screenwriter

Keep it civil people! The real winner will be revealed when both films grace our cinemas in the upcoming months.

Ezra talks - exclusive update!

2006-07-13T17:16:00.000-07:00

From our fave Zodiac star (Ezra Buzzington, check my earlier posts and interview with him), he writes:

"Heyo,Update. Did some reshoots. FYI. The character was changed up a bit. He wanted to add a LOT more testimonials from a lot more actors so I was brought back in to talk about Zodiac again. As usual, great to see David. He was in fine form and the crew was genuinely pleased to be all back together. Now my guy is a guy with a stoooooopid plan to catch Zodiac. And I was thrilled to make the whole crew, David and Mark Ruffalo totally break up on camera. He rules. Take care,Zra"

"Quick update. Just wanted to let you know that as David was cutting the film together he decided that he needed far more Zodiac witness testimonials than he's originally thought. So he wrote up some stuff specifically for me (and several others) to reshoot. Dude. Just saying. Fincher writing something with me in mind. Ok. Can totally die now. It was shot quickly (wow!) and managed to make David, the crew and Mark Ruffalo totally break up. Me so thrilled.Thought you might want to know.CUEzra B."

There you go guys, straight from the horses mouth. Don't worry about the release date. This movie will be a killer, seriously.

The Big Ass I'm Back Update!!

2006-07-13T16:17:00.000-07:00

The release date (according to ComingSoon.net) is January 19, 2007, though one of my readers has speculated that there might be a limited release Nov/Dec 2006 to qualify for the Oscars and then wide release Jan 19th 2007.

The first review of the test screenings are out and they are generally positive, keeping in mind the film is still a long way of being done. I personally love The Wire comparissons, I was addicted to that show!

Now on the name change - well like before it was a temporary change, I'm sure the movie will be temporarily named to The Cronichles and there will be fan out rage again only for it to return to being called the Zodiac.

A Robert Downey Jr. quote, one from this interview: "He's (Fincher) very tough on technique. If you're a technically-proficient actor, you're going to survive. If you're not, you're going to hate him. I love him!"

As for other Fincher news, as reported before here he is set to creat a FX show with the writer of M*A*S*H*. LOL! Sounds fun. Read about it here.

Well that's it for the update, not much has changed since my break, but as we get closer to the release date and the trailer there will be much more so stay tuned! Thanks for your support and for sticking with the site!

Zodiac release date pushed back.

2006-06-11T16:13:00.000-07:00

Yep it's true folks. You might have read the comment left on my blog. If not here it is, from an anonymous poster (leave your name dude so I can give you credit!) :

Hi, I am not commenting on this topic but wanted to reach you with some news. The release date for Zodiac has been pushed back to January 17 2007. I post on a message board for Robert Downey jr and a fellow named Chet who worked on the movie posted there a few times. He posted today and said one of the big reasons for the delay is that Fincher is reshooting a scene with Robert and other key cast memebers. Filming will begin in 2 weeks. Just thought you would want to know this! take care Judy ps.. coming soon.net has the new release date listed already so this is the real deal.

And checking Zodiac's page on ComingSoon.net confirms this - so the date is 2007. While this is dissapointing I'd rather Fincher reshoots scenes that didn't work rather than release less than his best work. Another plus of this is that the movie doesn't have to compete with the release of the Black Dahlia (which opens in September). But this also means a delay for Benjamin Button which was to start shooting in October. What are everyone's thoughts? Can you wait longer or are you sick of Fincher's need for perfection?

PS - It was Judy (again). Appreciate your help (again)!

Another Fincher could have been

2006-06-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

Fight Club the musical? Yes according to Chuck Palahniuk in this interview:

Is it true that there's been talk of a "Fight Club" musical?

Twentieth Century Fox had asked David Fincher to take that on, and David asked Trent Reznor to do the music; he even asked Brad Pitt if he would do live theater. We all verbally signed on to do it, but that was two years ago, and we haven't heard anything.

Fincher - coming to a TV screen near you!

2006-06-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

Thats right you heard it here first. He's going to guest star in an upcoming episode of Courtney Cox's new show - the drama "Dirt". As reported on Reuters:

Landgraf noted that some of the supporting roles in "Dirt" will be recast. Although the story lines traffic in celebrities, they will be of the fictional variety, but there will be some exceptions: Director David Fincher ("Fight Club") makes a cameo in the pilot as himself.

The Dirt can be seen on FX in the US in early 2007 - let's hope someone YouTube's Fincher's appearance then.

Off Topic - Fincher was going to direct what?

2006-06-02T01:23:00.000-07:00

From ComingSoon.net's visit to the Pathfinder set directed by Marcus Nispel:

Q: So the Vikings will be speaking Icelandic, and the Indians and Karl?

Nispel: They speak English so we know what's going on. Again, in the original version, I didn't want any dialect, I don't even want Icelandic, it was just like very internal, and most likely by all means, weird. But what it did do is you set out and you write it completely visual. You can turn the sound off on this movie and know completely what is going on, and then later it's just like the cherry on the icing, we actually get to hear a little bit and not feel completely detached to the characters. But visually you can plug along and turn the sound off. That was actually one of the main things I wanted to do, which I couldn't have done with any other movie. I know David Fincher once, I have heard this story from several people, they offered him Air Force One, and he went into the meeting and said, "You know I'm different than other directors" and he said, "I want to do the whole movie without any dialogue" and the producers were telling the story laughing, like "How crazy is that" and I go "He's a genius" because you know there's no reason why Harrison Ford has to talk to the subtitled Russians, and I don't remember anything worthwhile knowing from what the Russians were saying. You know he's down there in the boat and they're up there and he strikes from there, "First Blood" again, it gets you back to that. When I saw that when I was a kid, I went like, "Well that's a great B-movie, but it's also true cinema to me."

"Get off my plane" - said thru facial expressions only.

Exclusive Ezra Buzzington Interview

2006-05-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

Yes folks - here is my first big exclusive at the Zodiac blog. The generous and talented Mr Ezra Buzzington (pictured below) has conducted an interview with me through email. I can't thank him enough for his time and his honest responses to my 5th rate journalist questions. The man is a true professional and I can't wait to see him in Zodiac, The Prestige and anything else that is in his future. Now onto the interview!

Tell me Ezra about working with Fincher the second time around. Did it prepare you for the long hours?
I was up for four different roles in Zodiac. I was told it was because both the casting director (Laray Mayfield) and David really wanted me in the movie but couldn't find the right place for me. So nice to be wanted. Especially by those pros. I knew it would be a long shoot. It always is. David's very, very particular about what he shoots. And he's even more particular in the cutting of it. This is his way of working and those who know him know that and move on. And this isn't to say that he wastes time. Just the opposite. He just won't settle for less than what he wants. I'm sure that can be frustrating for some, but not for me. As a director I know what it's like to need something very specific for a scene. I'm all for it. And, if you know this going in, you prepare. I took with me no less than 4 magazines, 3 DVDs, 6 CDs and a book. Beats working.

How did the opportunity arise to work with Fincher again?
Well, like I said, they had me in several times for different characters. Finally the right one came along. Chihuahua guy.

What can you tell us about Zodiac the film and your role in it?
It's a psychological thriller about more than just Zodiac. It follows several people who's lives were inextricably changed by the madness that ran rampant through the San Francisco area during that period. It zeroes in on two reporters covering the case and how they're lives are altered by what becomes an obsession to them. My guy believes that Zodiac is someone he knows and that he's about to be killed. Kind of a nut witness.

Have you read the whole script? Your thoughts?
It's brilliant. It's constructed kind of like a big puzzle with blind alleys and false clues. All to drive the main players. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Favourite director to work with?
Hmmm. Well, David's certainly up there. And Terry Zwigoff is a brilliant madman. But that award would probably have to go to Paul Thomas Anderson. He let's actors go crazy with lines and characters. It's clear he loves actors and tries to understand what motivates them. I've been told he's had a few bad experiences with some smaller players though and that's why he tends to only work with people he knows. I'd do anything to work with him again. Paul, you reading this? (I DOUBT IT EZRA! :P)

Best film experience?
That would have to be "The Hills Have Eyes". How many times do you get to shoot in Ouarzazate, Morocco? The people are so kind and giving, the atmosphere is unbelieveably beautiful and they treat you like a fucking king. Reflecting pools at a 5 star hotel, food eaten erotically and music you've never heard. Just can't be beat.

Your also appearing in Christopher Nolan's - The Prestige - what can you tell us about that?
I can tell you that Hugh Jackman is one of the finest gents I've ever had the pleasure of meeting but I dropped him like a hot potatoe when Andy Serkis came along. I'm a physical actor and to have the opportunity to pick Andy's brain about playing both Kong and Gollum was once in a lifetime. Chris Nolan ran a frolicking set. People were polite, professional and quick to their jobs. There were hundreds of extras when we shot and I noticed that each one was treated with dignity and respect they deserve. That doesn't always happen and it's good to see. But sitting in my onset chair next to Hugh and Andy when Chris comes up and calls us to set... I mean, come on. That's shittin' in high cotton, bubba.

What do you enjoy more - a small role in a feature film or a big role in an independent film?
I assume you mean a small role in a BIG STUDIO feature film or a big role in a small indie film? If that's right then it's definitely a big role in a smaller film. You get to spend much more time around the crew family and that's heaven to me. Coming in for one or two days on a small or a large shoot is very, very difficult. You come in, you do it, you don't get to know anybody and you leave. Sucks. But a lower number on the call sheet (1, 2, 3, etc.) guarantees you're going to be around awhile getting to know everybody.

Do people recognise you in the street? What part are you recognised for the most?
Rarely. But it happens. People stare at me a lot and they don't know how they know me. I tend to be invisible in my characters. I'm described as chameleonic. Which I dig. The best time I was recognized though was at Sundance a few years ago. I had just dropped a friend of mine off at the CAA party and I was feeling down because I didn't have a big enough name (or big enough tits) to crash it. I'm bitching to myself all the way up Main street, kind of getting down on myself and I stop in for a coffee. The young girl behind the counter said "Hey, I know you. You're that really weird guy from 'Me, Myself & Irene'!". And she called all her friends over and had them take a picture and, well, you can see where this is going. It felt great to be validated that way just when I was feeling so shitty. When people figure out that I was Weird Al in "Ghost World" though, they tend to get pretty excited.

Craziest thing you've done on a set?
As a character or as me? As a character I guess it would be a toss-up between being bare-assed naked in front of John Malkovitch and dozens of Teamsters shooting "Art School Confidential" and diving face first into a 4 layer wedding cake on "The Huntress". As an actor it woudl be crouching on a downtown LA street corner screaming at the top of my lungs as a crazy bag person while people are walking by oblivious to the fact that I'm acting for a hidden camera. But one of the things I like most about acting is it gives you the chance to do things you'd never allow yourself to do in real life.

You've had a varied career and been involved in some great projects. What tips could you give to someone who'd like to follow your path?
Fucking do it. Don't listen to anything people tell you about NOT doing this or NOT doing that. If it's something you want to do, fucking do it. The only rule in this town is there are no rules. Follow your heart, your instincts, your gut and be nice to absolutely everybody. Even the assholes. You don't have to trust them, but it won't serve you to tell them off till you're in a position to tell them off. Remember who the dipshits are so you won't work with them again and always, always, always take the meeting. Even if it's something you're not interested in. You might be surprised.

What project have you got lined up at the moment?
I just booked an incredibly cool indie flick called "Miracle Desert". I'm a creepy, know it all Deputy who tangles with a couple of incompetent contract killers. It's darkly funny and really bloody. So that should be cool. I'm hoping to shoot a major studio Vampire film coming up but still waiting to hear. The director wants me but the studio would have to sign off. We'll see. I'm just in the process of submitting my feature directorial debut to festivals. It's a fockumentary that follows the incredible rise and unavoidable fall of a middle-aged boy band. It's called "Outta Sync" - www.outtasynctheband.com . I've also signed with a personal appearances manager who's booking me into horror conventions. Those are a fucking blast! I did one in England and if that one is any indication, baby, what happens at horror conventions stays at horror conventions. So people should check out my calendar on MySpace to keep abreast of those dates. www.myspace.com/buzzington

EZRA LINKS
www.myspace.com/buzzington

www.outtasynctheband.com

www.ezrabuzzington.com

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0125653/

www.goggleseyes.com

Off Topic - Sort of Fincher related

2006-05-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

Michael Bay (king of the big budget explosion) has bought SFX firm Digital Domain. As taken from their official press release, we all know Digital Domain due to their involvement with such Fincher projects as Fight Club, Motorola Pbel ad, Heineken "beer run" ad and the Nine Inch Nails video clip "Only" amongst others. With this move we should see them more into full length feature films. Check out the Digital Domain site here.

PS. I'm actually hoping Transformers turns out well.

Some sort of update?

2006-05-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

Well Zodiac was mention albeit briefly in an interview with Pell James:

Even if she didn't also have a looming role in David Fincher's much-anticipated, $80m serial killer flick Zodiac, her wonderful and courageous performance in The King will make Pell James one of the breakout film stars of 2006.

Late last year she worked with David Fincher, of whom she's a huge fan. Zodiac takes the brilliant, stylised director back to the gritty, psychological terrain of 7even. It's about a series of unsolved murders in the San Francisco in the late Sixties and stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo. James plays one of the victims, Cecelia Shepard. Another intense role then.
"Yep," she says brightly. "It was bizarre - we filmed it where she actually got killed, and it was almost exactly the anniversary of it happening. I get hog-tied and stabbed to death. But it wasn't so bad. I had a full bodysuit and kneepads and everything. It was like doing gymnastics." Anyway, she spoke with Fincher the other day and he assured her that the almost-completed film is more "sad than blood and guts and gore".

Thats all for now folks!

Off Topic Stuff!

2006-05-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

There's a good reason for me not posting anything recently - no news and me busting my arm! So that means no Euro trip for me but that does mean you'll be getting all the latest Zodiac news as it happens!

On to other news - head over to Comic Book Resources and check out a preview of Se7en the comic! Yes you heard me right, it covers John Doe's past so it'll definetly be interesting! I'd love to hear what you guys make of the news? Can we expect other Fincher films to go to the comic world? Panic Room sequel with Raoul anyone??

First mini look at the flim - VIDEO PEOPLE!

2006-04-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

WOHOOOOOO!!!!!

BE WARNED - BIG FILE, NOT 56K FRIENDLY.

CLICK HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD IT (right click the link and Save Target As)

It's not the trailer unforunately but we get quite a few looks at the film. So yes Brian Cox is in the film not Gary Oldman plus we also get to see Fincher speak directly on camera which is a first for me - I'm just used to hearing his deep low pitched voice on DVD commentaries.

They mention that the movie is in post production so we should be seeing a trailer very soon!

Chloe speaks for the first time

2006-04-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

In a piece on here from straight.com:

“I don’t know why it has happened the way it has. Maybe it is because almost every movie that I have done I have been offered. I haven’t gotten a film on an audition. I have auditioned for many studio films but I just haven’t gotten the parts. There is a long line of blond girls before me, but I would like to be on that list one day because I think you can make great studio pictures in America if the director has control over the film. Having said that, my next film is a studio movie called Zodiac that is about the [San Francisco] killer. David Fincher is the director and Jake Gyllenhaal is the male lead, so it should do well. It is a small part, but it is my first real studio film and it has a director who has a strong vision. He makes films for studios but still sticks to his guns.”

Zodiac twins - spooooookkky

2006-04-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Rachel for poping this in the comments box. Zodiac related excerpts from some website:

They also can be seen in a new movie, “Chronicles,” which comes out in September and features Jake Gyllenhaal.In a scene, Gyllenhaal rocks a baby and hushes her to sleep.According to Marsha, Kiley peed on Jake in real life. The twins had to wear cloth diapers, a common practice during the time period of the movie.But Gyllenhaal didn’t complain.“He was so nice,” Marsha said. “He was really good with them.”

Keep the links and comments coming guys, more profiles soon - I promise.

Another script review

2006-04-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

This is an old review that I have just discovered. It is from a cool little blog called Strong Opinion. The review is glowingly positive. It seems to be of an older draft (3/25/05) and is 189 pages (which again indicates a 3 hour movie). Heres an excerpt from the excellent review:

The script is tailor made for Fincher’s style. In particular, an early scene which follows a letter and our lead character in one long, super-tricky shot. But this is not just a trip down familiar territory for Fincher. He’s been handed some of the best sequences of his career. Incredible to read, I can’t imagine how Fincher plans to film some of these tasty bits (which is why I didn’t mind reading the script.)There’s a shooting where pages of dreadful suspense lead to a slowed down description of the numerous gunshots. Another murder contains the warning “Dear God, we’re actually going to have to watch this.” Which brings me to another reason why I love Fincher. He makes thrillers for Adults and doesn’t pull punches to get a wider audience.

Sounds great doesn't it, I urge you to check out the rest of the review it really will get you re-excited for the movie. Which brings me to this question. We all have questioned the choice of James Vanderbilt as screenwriter but the reviews so far have him hitting the ball out of the park on this one. So is it a case of a good writing finally revealing his true self or is it a case of the material being so good and vast that any Hollywood hack could make this interesting? Your thoughts as always are welcome and encouraged!

Logue talks ... again!

2006-04-13T01:56:00.000-07:00

He just can't shut up. From the always cool Suicide Girls website he talks. This is the Zodiac bit:

DRE: Do you have a small part in Zodiac like everyone else in Hollywood or do you have a bigger part?

Logue: I think I have a smaller part. It’s more of Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr’s movie and it seems fantastic. [David] Fincher likes to do a hundred takes and I was watching Mark Ruffalo and Downey go at it. I thought, “man this is cool.” Both those guys are such fantastic actors, it's just fun to be around. It's fun to just sit back and enjoy the work. It's not really a job. The only job part of it is showing up at five and being on time. The rest is all gravy.

Maybe I'll do an actor spotlight profile on him tomorrow.

Edwards talks Zodiac

2006-04-10T03:54:00.000-07:00

I know I promised you guys an actor profile every day but my work experience + me looking for other work has deprived me of time, a few days and ill start it back up again but for today we finally have Anthony Edwards talking about Zodiac:

Working with "a great filmmaker like David Fincher" was an offer far too good to resist, says Anthony Edwards, who recently completed work on Fincher's "Zodiac" feature -- about the hunt for San Francisco's infamous Zodiac serial killer. "Mark Ruffalo and I play the detectives, and Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. play the reporters," adds Edwards. "It's like a great novel in the way that the story builds by going back and forth between their two different worlds."

Today's actor profile - Ezra Buzzington!

2006-04-08T18:33:00.000-07:00

The man, the myth, the legend - the one and only Ezra Buzzington! All you Fincher fans will best remember Ezra from his appearance as the car inspector from hell in Fight Club but he has also made appearances in such movies as Magnolia, Me, Myself & Irene, Ghost World, Secretary and of course the upcoming Zodiac and Christopher Nolan's The Prestige, his TV work includes The Jaime Foxx Show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

On the set of Fight Club with the bearded one.

This is what Ezra had to say about filming the Zodiac with Fincher:

DAVID FINCHER is a god.
There. I said it. And I'm not taking it back. And neither, if I don't miss my guess, will anyone argue with me. Being on set with David was like coming home for Thanksgiving. I was called early in the day to the downtown location. I found my trailer and kicked back. I'd brought with me 3 books, 5 magazines, the OUTTA SYNC rough cut and the entire first season DVD of "Drawn Together" because I knew I'd be sitting around awhile. It's Fincher. He's the most precise director I've ever met. He knows exactly what he wants and he doesn't stop until he gets it. So. Eleven hours later I'm called to set. Not kidding. They have me in these 1970's style shoes that have a slight "wedgie" kind of thing going on. I'm wandering around a bit waiting for the 2nd 2nd AD to take me to set and don't see the pothole directly in front of me. Bam! I'm on the ground clutching my ankle. Which probably shouldn't really look like that, I'm thinking. On set medic, 2nd 2nd, wardrobe (it was their shoes, after all) suddenly surround me. "Are you ok?", "Should we bandage it?", "Want a drink?", etc. Very hurried, worried and busy. All I cared about was getting to set. I'd be damned if I let anything get in the way of my working with David again. And that night. So, I hobble to set and they plunk me down in my on set chair. When I'm called for my scene, David sees the limp. "Hurt yourself there, Ezra?" He shouts. "Nah, David." I tell him. "It's just a cry for attention!" He laughs and we get into the scene. MARK RUFFALO is interviewing people who think they have clues to help find the Zodiac serial killer. My guy is very nervous and jumpy. (David called him the "Chihuahua guy".) He's convinced he knows who the killer is and believes that the Zodiac is out to get him. David let us play with text. And, man, am I glad. The best stuff often comes from riffing. My line : "Get your cock outta my Chrysler, you son of a bitch!" to JIM CARREY in ME, MYSELF AND IRENE was a total adlib. The best directors know that if you have a good improv artist to work with, the script will only be improved. You can't have "improved" without "improv", I like to say. Or, at least, I'll start saying it since I just made it up. See, I write too. ZODIAC looks to be terrifying. Gee. No shit. FINCHER meets the ZODIAC. A perfect marriage. Made in hell.

This is Jack's living nightmare.

For more info about Ezra visit his official web site and MySpace page.

First script review!

2006-04-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

OMG - many thanks to Judy again for pointing this out, been busy with work this week so this review is a real highlight. The script review can be found here, at the moment it is the headline story but in a few days/weeks it will be moved down so be prepared to search. Now on to the review by the guy with the Elvis hair. Highlights include:

Script is 150 pages, indicating a 3 hour movie!
Chief characters are Graysmith (Gyllenhaal) and Toschi (Ruffalo) who end up going nuts
Fan made Zodiac poster pops up - LOL!
The review believes the movies is a methapor for obsessivness - so no wonder Fincher chose it!
Don't expect a happy ending.
Robert Downey's and Anthony Edwards roles aren't as big as first thought.
The script elvis read didn't feature an appearance from attorney Melvin Belli - which Gary Oldman and Brian Cox have been attached to.

From tomorrow, every day I'll do a feature piece on an actor from Zodiac.

PS. Judy or anyone else if you have a need to contact me just write something in the comments box, it goes straight to my email.

Fantastic new article

2006-03-31T15:08:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Anonymous for the email (seriously dude put ur name to it and ill gladly credit you) who has found a very information article which can be found here. Fincher actually talks about the movie. Other interesting ponts to emerge:

They have the release date as the 26th January 2007, not September 22nd 2006 as has been mentioned. They might have a better insight into this as they have spoken to Fincher and the crew. Plus we know Fincher is a perfectionist so he would take his sweet time to get the movie right. But ComingSoon.net has posted a date of the 10th November 2006 so we'll have to wait and see.
Fincher is really a gun toting maniac - "I'm so glad I don't have a rifle," he says, peering out through the blinds. "Because I would shoot those people." LOL!
Funny + perfectionist = Fincher!
The movie is a more character piece. From the article - "It is less about the killer than those who track him and can't let the story die. It's about people haunted by death. There's none of the stylistic pyrotechnics of Fight Club or Panic Room. If you need a tonal comparison, think All The President's Men. "The camera doesn't move. There's no bullshit. The characters are the story... The point of the movie is, 'What is justice?'" says Fincher, driving Total Film to the edit suite for an astonishingly early preview of sequences from Zodiac. "The movie begins, not unsalaciously, with some brutality to innocent people," he says, a fact confirmed by a horrifying scene we watch - while somewhat incongruously downing a takeaway and red wine - of a couple being bound and stabbed. "Then it becomes about, 'We have to find him, we have to find him...'"

There you go finally a great update and something for us Zodiac fans to sink our fangs into. Keep up the comments coming guys I enjoy getting them from you and please tell me how you found the site!

EDIT - the comment was from Judy (cheers!) and it appears that the article from the site is a UK one so that could be the UK release date (which probably also means the Australian release date). So for now lets assume that November 10, 2006 is the US date!

Slow news month.

2006-03-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

Nothing new to report guys. I was browsing thru IMDB and saw that they recently updated the Zodiac cast. One of Fincher's fave cameo actors is schedule to make a cameo in Zodiac. The actors is (drumroll please) Richmond Arquette! The good Arquette! You may remember him from such roles as Delivery Man of Gwynehts head in Se7en and the Intern in Fight Club (some of weirdos may remember him as the Gynecologist in The Big Empty but you are just plain weirdos). So you know that his role in Zodiac is going to be one to remember. Let's all salute Richie Boy (his new nick name) with the only pic of his circulating on the net.

PS. Keep the comments up guys and feel free to link the site! Adios!

First sign of Zodiac marketing

2006-03-17T04:08:00.000-08:00

From the great Aintitcoolnews website. Quint recently went along to ShoWest and gives us Fincher fans a first glimp of the font/graphic design used for the movie. Oh theres also Jake and Mark having a lover's tiff in the background.

Stars from The Zodiac talk bout Zodiac

2006-03-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

Confused? Stars of "The Zodiac" (that other Zodiac film getting rave reviews) talk about Finchers upcoming version.

From here, TV star Robin Tunney speaks:

Robin Tunney Did Not Know There Would Be Two Zodiac Killer Movies: “There was a story that there was another script. David Fincher was not attached. It had sort of been around. I think Mike Medavoy had it, who’s a very famous, old time producer. He hadn’t had a director for it, so it was sort of like, ‘Is it going to get made? Is it not?’ And, the script was really secret, so nobody knew. They were trying to find a director. David Fincher got attached to it, after we stopped shooting. They always decide to make the same movie at the same time.”

And another TV star Justin Chambers talks here:

Justin Chambers on the Upcoming David Fincher Zodiac Killer Movie: “I’m sure it’s going to be very good. I like his films. Somebody said that they’re going to have an ending, which doesn’t make sense to me. Like, they catch the killer. That’s what I heard. I don’t know if it’s true. Maybe it’s just speculation of what could have happened. It’s pretty scary, somebody who hides and sends letters. You don’t know who it is. Is he dead? Was he 18 when he committed these [murders]? He could be alive. Was he from the town?”

Whoa! An article about the "other" Zodiac film

2006-03-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

But our movie is mentioned of course. From an article found here. Some of the highlights:

If he dreads the competition from Fincher's flick, he's not sharing.

"I'm a big fan of David Fincher's and I wish that project the best," he says. "It goes to show how much interest there is in this subject matter."

While Fincher's "Zodiac" budget reportedly hovers around $80 million, Bulkley's came in at $1 million. That doesn't go very far when you're trying to re-create another era, he says.

So he's a fan, you think he reads this blog? If your out there Alex please contact us!

LOL! The "other" Zodiac movie

2006-03-07T03:53:00.000-08:00

Fincher you were so slow that someone else has made a Zodiac film in the meantime. Check out this website to see what a D list production looks like. But seriously folks it will be interesting to check out how bad this film in future years to Finchys version. Well poke around the site and get a feel for the case if you haven't done so already. The only real worthy news from this is that it appears Phillip Baker Hall is in this version. Oh well we have Anthony Edwards!!!! Take that cheap independent production!

Thats all for today folks!

WHERES THE F@$%#!^ TRAILER??

2006-03-05T02:51:00.000-08:00

Cmon look at this, the new rocky movie has a teaser already out and all weve gotten from Zodiac is 3 bloody pics!!!!!!!!!

I call on Fincher to stop doing 2003 takes of a door knob and wrap the thing already!!!

OK had to get that out!

Jake complains about Fincher!

2006-02-27T04:15:00.000-08:00

Don't complain Jakey boy - whats better acting or cleaning toliets. From ContactMusic:

GYLLENHAAL CHANGES ATTITUDE TO ACTING

Hollywood actor JAKE GYLLENHAAL has never worked harder in his life since starring in upcoming DAVID FINCHER movie ZODIAC.
The Oscar-nominated star, 25, plays real-life author ROBERT GRAYSMITH in the real-life story of the police hunt for the zodiac serial killer who terrorised the San Francisco Bay area of California in the 1960s and 1970s. To this day, the murderer has never been caught.
Gyllenhaal, currently filming the thriller, admits he is having to get used to shooting repeated takes to satisfy perfectionist Fincher.
He says, "My idea of what is easy and what is hard has been completely changed by this film.
"The first day, the first set-up, we did 67 takes. I was trying to determine if it was a joke."

Logue talks! The sequal

2006-02-23T21:04:00.000-08:00

The big ranga (aussie for redhead) talks - and finally gives this blog some much needed content! From the the Movieweb site. Oh and Finch if your reading (and I know you are) can you please release the trailer already??

What about the character of Ken Narlow in the upcoming Zodiac movie directed by David Fincher? Is there one specific thing that you learned as an actor, that you think youll carry with you for the rest of your career, having worked with him?

David Fincher is a perfectionist and perhaps the smartest director (or I should say, the most intelligent and intellectual in a John Frankenheimer kind of way) that I have ever worked with. What is great about him is that he surrounds you with things, from the furniture you are sitting on, to the crime report in the folder in front of you, that is exactly like it would have been if you were actually back in the investigation itself. It is hard to describe, but if you open your prop briefcase and the crime photos are real- you just can't help but be the person you are supposed to be, in my case, Ken Narlow, the Sheriff in Napa who handled he Zodiac Lake Barryessa murders. He is a bit of a celluloid idol of mine and not to say that John Schlesinger, Mike Newell, Oliver Stone, Wim Wenders and terrence Malick aren't (and I loved working with them) there is something about David that is as amazing as those men artistically, but he also feels like your best friend from college in a way.

Some actor talks a bit bout Zodiac

2006-02-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Comedian Donal Logue talks to tvguide.com and mentions this about our most anticipated movie:

TVGuide.com: You're in the upcoming Nicolas Cage movie Ghostrider as well as David Fincher's next flick, Zodiac, about a serial killer. Isn't this material a little dark for a guy who's used to doing comedy?

Logue: Unfortunately, on Ghostrider we had a lot of fun and laughed our asses off, which is hard not to do, because Nic Cage is like Elvis in tight leathers. It was hard not to go to some ridiculous comic place between takes. What was different about Zodiac was that David Fincher is such a perfectionist that the folders we carried around on set as detectives held actual crime-scene photos from the Zodiac killings. That stuff is so sobering and so chilling that it's not hard to stay in character.

Jake on Graysmith

2006-01-30T07:01:00.000-08:00

From a NZ website (bloody Kiwisi):

His next film is Zodiac, about a 1960s San Francisco serial killer. Gyllenhaal is playing Robert Graysmith, the San Francisco Chronicle ex-illustrator and author who obsessively investigates the killings. Gyllenhaal's starting to get a little forensic himself; he's been recently videotaping Graysmith. What's he like? " He's a bulldog and at the same time, full of an innocence I could never equate with a bulldog. He cares about doing the right thing in a world that seems so perverse, it seems impossible to do the right thing in. "I've noticed that playing a real person, you can interpret it how you wanna interpret it, but sometimes the personality is the key to making the story work."

Huge Fincher news!

2006-01-12T02:41:00.000-08:00

Whoa I was blown away when i heard this. It appears that Fincher is set to direct Torso, a movie adapted from the graphic novel by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko.
If this is true it seems that Benjamin Button (which was supposed to star father to be Brad Pitt has been put on hold) has been put on hold for no. Ehren Kreger (writer of both Ring movies) is set to script.

Quick synopsis - Based on Brian Bendis and Marc Andreyko's graphic novel, Torso tells the true story of Eliot Ness' career after cleaning up Chicago and putting away Al Capone. A national celebrity and idolized federal agent, Ness leaves the Windy City for Cleveland, where his career takes an unfortunate downturn. Though Ness swears to clean up Cleveland, he finds himself humbled by a serial killer responsible for the "torso murders."

I am so excited that Fincher is gonna work soon after Zodiac wraps up, no big break for him again. I'm also thrilled that the great Torso comic is turning into a movie. I suggest you check it out. Maybe Finch will pull out some Sin City style effects since the comic is done in black and white characters on top on real life photos. Below are some links.

Google News results on Torso film

Bendis website Torso

PS. I'm going to be making a Torso page soon.

Release date released???

2006-01-07T03:56:00.000-08:00

This is interesting, cropped up on MSN movie preview of 2006. They claim Zodiac is set for a September 22 release date this year. If this is true we should be seeing a trailer very shortly.

Small tidbit of news

2006-01-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

Is tidbit a word? From sound engineer Drew Kunin found here.

And, just to keep things interesting, he's currently working long hours on what he says "is technologically the most advanced film ever made."
It's David Fincher's "Zodiac," about the unsuccessful — and debilitating — efforts of a cop (Mark Ruffalo) and a newspaperman (Jake Gyllenhaal) to track down a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco in the '60s and '70s. "Zodiac" is being shot with a new digital system that Kunin says "looks great, amazing. This movie is one full step ahead of everyone else. No one else is doing this, but it's so clear to me that this is the future of the movies."
Because the technology is so new and because Fincher, who also made "Seven" and "Panic Room," is "extremely demanding of the people he works with," Kunin says, "This is hard work. The film with Altman was in many ways a love feast. We all felt so happy to be there, and Bob makes a very convivial atmosphere. But this feels more like hard work."

Fincher you task master show us a trailer!

First Official Pics!

2005-12-31T02:51:00.000-08:00

From Paramount, as posted on ComingSoon.net (excellent site btw). Check out the hairdos!!

EDIT - DarkHorizons has a new pic.

Cool new Fincher commercial!

2005-12-22T00:42:00.000-08:00

While we all wait for some fresh news to come out we can keep ourselves buys by watching this cool new Fincher ad for the new Motoral phone the Pebl. And whats even cooler is the behind the scenes which shows how this evolutionary tale came to life. Ah the wonders of CG!

The ad

Making of

Be warned these movies are big files, not for dial up users.

Finch + Jake on set pics

2005-11-22T23:56:00.000-08:00

Both are avid dog lovers. More pics from the Zodiac set can be found on gossip folk site Just Jared.

Bookman is in Zodiac! Time to rejoice !!!

2005-11-19T01:54:00.000-08:00

Forget the Socceroos the big news this week is that Philip Baker Hall will be in Zodiac. Yes he is Bookman from Seinfeld and he plays a big role:

"He'll also play a key role in David Fincher's Zodiac, a look at how an obsession with the Zodiac Killer destroyed the lives of four men. "

Please join me in a toast to this fantastic news.

Slow news week - how bout slow news month!

2005-11-06T05:53:00.000-08:00

Jake offers us big insight into the film.

Q. Can you talk about your role in the upcoming David Fincher movie "Zodiac"?
A. My character is Robert Graysmith. He was a cartoonist with the San Francisco Chronicle, and he sort of wormed his way onto the Zodiac case in San Francisco during the 1960s and 1970s. He ended up, sort of, solving the case.

NOT! Hopefully more news and pics start trickling in.

Jakes gushes over Fincher and Zodiac

2005-10-20T17:55:00.000-07:00

Just like the title says Jake gets us even more hyped about Zodiac (not Chronichles as many wrongly speculated).

The thought of "Donnie Darko" star Jake Gyllenhaal matching his dark, brooding stare with "Fight Club" director David Fincher's nihilist visions and hatred of happy endings may sound like a very, very dark dream, but it is indeed coming true. That's why anticipation is sky-high for next year's "Zodiac," which puts Gyllenhaal alongside Mark Ruffalo and Chloë Sevigny. The film, which is currently being shot, will recount the real-life terror caused by a serial killer who turned '60s and '70s San Francisco into his playground — and who still hasn't been found. According to Gyllenhaal, the director has developed an obsession with reinventing the genre. "He's going pretty dark with this one," the "Jarhead" star said of Fincher. "He's doing stuff on this film that I've never seen done before. Technically speaking, he's extraordinary. He's shooting on this Viper camera, this [digital video] camera, so we don't have any slates or anything like that — we just blow through takes and start over again. There's no clapping of the sticks or anything like that; we just keep going. And he's done these murder scenes unlike any murder scenes I've seen before. He's true exactly to, like, the inch or centimeter of what actually happened. So it's going to look and feel exactly like it happened in real life. It's going to be terrifying." ...

MTV LINK

Another Zodiac film? + Oldman rumour

2005-10-12T05:17:00.000-07:00

Heheh - 2 Zodiac films at the same time? Who would have thought?

2 Zodiac killer film projects in works, authorities involved with one of them
To watch the trailer for the indy movie "The Zodiac," formerly titled "In Control of All Things," which was filmed extensively in downtown Vallejo, visit www.norcalmovies.com/TheZodiac
By MATTHIAS GAFNI, Times-Herald staff writer

Two Zodiac film projects are swirling around Hollywood these days, one starring such A-list actors as Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo.
The latest project, titled "Zodiac," is based on former San Francisco Chronicle reporter Robert Graysmith's books "Zodiac" and "Zodiac Unmasked," on the serial killer who haunted Northern California in the '60s and '70s and has never been caught. The killer taunted police and newspapers, including the Times-Herald, sending letters claiming responsibility for the crimes, even murders in Vallejo.

Producers for "Zodiac" wanted to capture the details of the case and originally planned to film scenes at the actual crimes scenes, including Blue Rock Springs and Lake Herman Road.

However, Vallejo/Solano Film Commission head Jim Reikowsky said production members visited those sites and balked at filming there.

"The locations changed too much, so now L.A. will be Vallejo," Reikowsky said. "Lake Herman was not what they liked. And Blue Rock Springs has changed so much.

"It's too bad because when a film company comes they spend a lot of money," he said.

In September, the film company did shoot scenes at Lake Berryessa in Napa, one of the murder sites, Reikowsky said. They planned to shoot extensively in San Francisco as well, where the Zodiac killed a cab driver and Graysmith worked.

Robert Downey Jr. stars as Graysmith and the film follows the reporter's search for the killer. Director David Finchner, who made "Fight Club" and "Seven," is heading the project.

Over the last year, the production company has worked with the Vallejo Police Department on details of the crime to make it as authentic as possible, said Capt. David Jackson. With few officers remaining on staff who investigated the murders, the department sent them to former Vallejo detective George Bawart, Jackson said. He showed them some crime scenes and discussed some details, Jackson said.

The production crew was allowed to look at some of the evidence at the station, he added.

Meanwhile, "In Control of All Things," a Zodiac-based film shot extensively in Vallejo, has been renamed "The Zodiac" and was shown at the Munich Film Festival in August. The indy picture stars Rory Culkin, of the Culkin clan, and utilized large portions of downtown Vallejo.

Despite the decades-old crimes, the Zodiac case remains wildly popular.

"The case is still technically open," Jackson said. "They reality of us solving it is pretty slim at this point.

"Occasionally, we get people calling with a tip that they think their neighbor is the Zodiac and we do the proper follow-up after assessing it," he said.

LINK

Also on an interesting note there have been a few whispers around that Gary Oldman has dropped out of the film. The word on the street is that veteran Brian Cox will step in to take the role of Melvin Belli, hey at least he has a physical resemblance to Belli!

Belli

Coxy!

First pics from set

2005-10-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

Remember that article I posted yesterday? No? Well if you had checked it today you would have seen that the first set pics are up. The cast and crew look to be having a jovial time!

Downey - what happend to your hand?
Jake - what happend to your neck?

Fincher - lets do that scene again (for the 23rd time)
Jake - i'm gonna kill him Zodiac style

THE LINK AGAIN!

Sweet Zodiac news

2005-10-06T04:57:00.000-07:00

OMG such a good article. Must read! I aint gonna copy and paste it. The crew at SFGate.com have done a great job so please read the article on the link below.

MASSIVE ARTICLE

Very cool article

2005-10-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

First bit of news for a while - well sort of its more about the history of the Zodiac case. Heres a peak:

Now, 26 years later, David Fincher, who made "Fight Club," has taken up the challenge. Due late next year, the Warner Bros. film "Zodiac" will star Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo as the lead detectives and reporters. The $80 million film was shot on location last month in the Bay Area, and will continue its production for 85 days on Los Angeles sets.
Aiming for historical accuracy, the filmmakers hired witnesses, survivors, detectives and reporters as consultants to the film whenever possible.
"Authenticity is our main goal," said producer Brad Fischer last week on the set. Added scriptwriter James Vanderbilt, "We want to be as thorough as possible." The film crew began researching the case three years ago. Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith, the former Chronicle cartoonist whose interest in the case led him to write a 1976 book, "Zodiac," upon which the film is based. With his help, the filmmakers claim they have discovered new, substantial evidence. "What we've learned from our research," Fischer said, "we want to keep for our film."

I suggest you read the rest of the article its really fascinatin.

Click here!

Small update to cast

2005-09-28T02:55:00.000-07:00

Just a few kids roles. Lucky sons of guns - workin with the Finch.

Updated Cast!

San Fransicans Perving on Zodiac Stars

2005-09-24T05:51:00.000-07:00

If your in San Fran keep an eye out for the actors as they are getting about town. If you see any of them or get a pic drop me a line.

Gazing at ‘Zodiac' stars

Eagle-eyed patrons at the Clift Hotel spotted Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gyllenhaal in the Redwood Room on Friday night. The pair is presumably in town filming "Zodiac," a thriller about a real-life serial killer who terrorized San Francisco in the 1970s. Keep your celebrity meter on high. Other "Zodiac" cast members include newlywed Robert Downey Jr., Chloë Sevigny, Anthony Edwards and Bijou Phillips.

Linky!

Small Zodiac News!

2005-09-19T04:02:00.000-07:00

First up on the San Fran Examiner there is an interesting story about filming. Since all my readers are lazy fat pigs that can't be bothered to click on a link ill just past the whole story.

Smith, Downey, City star in flicks

Angelo Viducic has been a waiter at Original Joe's for 45 years. Now, at age 65, he's starting a new career as an actor. His first role? … He's playing a waiter at Original Joe's. Angelo, the very definition of debonair, along with a half-dozen or so of Joe's staffers and customers, will be working today as Joe's itself becomes a set for director David Fincher's production of "Zodiac," the flick about, naturally, the Zodiac Killer. Big Name cast: Gary Oldman plays Melvin Belli … Robert Downey Jr. plays legendary crime reporter Paul Avery — a case of casting a great character to play a really great character … Jake Gyllenhaal plays the Chron cartoonist, Robert Graysmith, who wrote the books on which the flick is based. Mark Ruffalo, who seems to be in town all the time, plays detective Dave Toschi. Anthony Edwards, Pell James, Bijou Phillips and Chloe Sevigny are in the flick as well. …"This really fits," says Original Marie Duggan, the presiding genius of Joe's. "During the time when all this was really going on, the S.F. Homicide Squad practically lived at Joe's." … Marie herself works today (they've closed the restaurant today for the shooting) as an actress. But she says her wardrobe "is pure Mrs. Doubtfire." … John Harris, Joe's master bartender, plays himself. And waiter Phillip Lucin, another of the Croatian horde who have animated Joe's since its founding, will sling some food in the show. Manuel Loaisa, who started as a busboy in May 1969, plays himself. He served the original Zodiac detectives. … Joe's is remarkable for having staffers like Loaisa and Viducic who have worked there, in tuxes and behind heavy aprons, for decades. "We've all done rather well here," says Angelo, "we've been able to build good lives in this country because of Joe's." …Joe's is timeless. When the location scouts came to check the place out, they discovered that, to make the joint look like a 1970s-era San Francisco restaurant, they had to change only one thing: the pay phone. Otherwise, not an anachronism in sight.
Not like down in the Financial District, where another film crew was shooting last weekend. "Pursuit of Happyness" — and yes, that's how they're spelling "happiness" — stars Will Smith as a homeless guy in the mid-'80s who wins custody of a small son just as he is admitted to an intern program at a stock brokerage. … Smith, not the kid, gets into the brokerage program. ... Well, it's no more improbable than any other real-life San Francisco story of the ‘80s. Indeed, "Happyness" is based on the true-life story of one Chris Gardner, who found himself out of work, out of luck and living with his baby son in a BART restroom. … The rest is pure Hollywood (or Horatio Alger). By pluck and luck, Gardner went on to become a broker at Dean Witter and Bear Stearns. Nowadays, he's a partner at the Chicago-based minority brokerage firm Gardner Rich & Co., and is so rich he can afford to hire his own gardener. Nice San Francisco story. …So down around the Bank of America building, last weekend they closed off traffic so our modern hybrids and SUVS wouldn't interfere with the ‘80s-era autos and trucks roaming up and down California Street in the background. … One startling anachronism: the cast of extras roaming the streets was largely dolled up in suits. I saw more "business attire" on California Street on Saturday than you're likely to see on any business day in the current dress-casual era. … Filming is also taking place around Duboce Park, where a mock-up BART station was built, and in Oakland and Piedmont. … By the way, Smith is said to be a jolly, friendly guy, much liked by crew and extras, though the death of his compadre, Andre Blair, who was for years Smith's stand-in on movie sets, saddened the shoot. Filming was stopped for the funeral. …Moviemaking is an intense business, so it's no surprise that cast and crew often don't have much time or energy to pursue the pleasures of The City. But you have to wonder sometimes if they even know where they are. Another Mark Ruffalo feature, "Just Like Heaven," was just released — to less-than-enthusiastic praise from my Examiner colleague, Jeffrey Anderson, though The City looks likes heaven. … To promote the movie, director Mark Waters did an HBO featurette about the shoot. In his television promo, as his actors jump on and off the Hyde Street cars, Mr. Waters speaks fondly of the venerable, characterlike vehicles. But he keeps calling them "trolley cars." My, that is ignorant … even for a guy from La-La Land.

Phew there u go. Here the link

Also from:

However, her mortal romantic interest, played by Mark Ruffalo, has had enough of this lovey-dovey fluff stuff. Ruffalo's prepping for a far more serious role in the upcoming David Fincher movie about the Zodiac killer.
"I'm the lead inspector in the Zodiac case. It's a great part," Ruffalo says. The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal, Anthony Edwards and Gary Oldman in the infamous case of a serial killer who had a double digit body count in San Francisco in the 1970s. He was never officially arrested.
"They say it was 37 bodies found, but many people think it was twice that count," says Ruffalo. "It's set in the period of the '70s. It centers on my relationship with a loose-cannon reporter. It's also about the five different police forces who came together to find this killer during a time when there were no fax machines, no Internet and it was hard to share information."

Zodiac is in rehersals? WTF?

2005-09-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

Either the interview was taken a while ago or Ruffalo is smoking the waccy tobaccy. But here is what he said in an interview with JoBlo.com:

"What's up next for you?
I have Rumor Has it with Jennifer Aniston and All the King's Men, with Sean Penn and Jude Law. It's gonna be great. I think it will be really good. And I'm just starting rehearsals for Zodiac, which David Fincher is directing. "

If you wanna read a lot of B.S. about his latest "romantic" comedy hit the link below.

Click on me!

PS - I'm positive that filming has begun already.

Updated Cast!

2005-09-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

More casting news - that means more photos (damn a picture of Lee Norris is hard to find). Bijou Phillips has now officially been confirmed - she'll prob play a murder victim. And yes I do realise that Ione Skye looks scary - so shes perfect for the film! Just scroll down below or for those of you too lazy heres a link.

Updates Cast!

Zodiac - $85 million budget? + News on filimg

2005-09-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

The San Fransico Chronicle has a really interesting article about Zodiac on its website. Ill outline the majo points below.

Shooting begins this month - no specific date given.
The budget is $85 million (hey digital films are expensive dude!).
The locals have been assured that the film will be "high toned" (whatever the hell that means) in the hope of not upsetting the locals who were affected.

Well thats about it - there is a few mentions of the actual characters invlolved but nothing further about the filming.

Link to article

Exciting Zodiac tidbit!

2005-09-08T01:41:00.000-07:00

If you read the mvwire.com interview with Digital Domain's Ed Ulbrich you might have noticed that Ed Ulbrich looks a hell of a lot like a young David Hasselhoff (shudder) but if you read furthr you'd have also noticed that good old Ed gives an exciting idea of how Zodiac will be filmed and it is very exciting. Here is the excerpt:

WG: What about the use of live action?
EU: All this is not to say there won’t be live action, there will be. David Fincher is directing a feature film, “Zodiac” that is going to be very exciting. It’s going to be the first all digital movie- well, of course, there are the Star Wars sequels, but “Zodiac” will be the first in that it’s a live action story, a live action movie. People will watch that film without having any awareness, nor should they have any, of what went into it. Meanwhile, it is jammed packed with what I call digital production. There will entirely CG scenes in the film that no one will know because this is not about blowing things up, or aliens or stunts, it’s just storytelling. And so on that level I think it’s incredibly exciting as a project because it’s a new way of making movies. It’s a new way of making big movies for substantially less money. And when we start to see that, we’re going to watch that trickle through to all of us who make images.

Exciting isn it? Fincher definetly has some suprises in store for us. I'm not sure if this movie will be shot like Sin City - with a greenscreen or wether Fincher will infuse CG in lots of shots. Either way my anticipation has rise even further!

Link to interview

The Cast!

2005-09-01T23:02:00.000-07:00

Jake Gyllenhaal .... Robert Graysmith

Mark Ruffalo .... Dave Toschi

Robert Downey Jr. .... Paul Avery

Gary Oldman .... Melvin Beli

Anthony Edwards

Jeremy Sisto .... Ken Narlow

Chloe Sevigny .... Graysmith's girlfriend

Bijou Phillips

Tom Verica .... Jim Dunbar

Patrick Scott Lewis .... Bryan Hartnell

Pell James .... Cecelia Shepard

Lee Norris .... Young Mike Mageau

Ione Skye

Micah Sauers .... David Graysmith

(no pic as of yet)
Zachary Sauers .... Aaron Graysmith