Who would have thought, but David Fincher seems to have found a comfort zone in Netflix. We could already guess from the filmmaker’s presence in House of Cards and Mindhunter (two highly reputed series in its catalog), but in recent times this relationship has strengthened as a result of Mank. Fincher’s father’s project dedicated to the Citizen Kane screenwriter went ahead thanks to the company’s funding, and led to a subsequent multi-year contract that has already crystallized in a recently released documentary series, Voir. Of course, there is much more on the way.
Fincher is currently filming The Killer, a film based on the series of graphic novels by Alexis Nolent, produced by Netflix, and which has brought him back together with a very special collaborator, beyond Erick Messerschmidt, with whom he already worked in the aforementioned Mank. The Killer is penned by Andrew Kevin Walker: indeed, the screenwriter who enshrined Fincher thanks to Se7en. It took them over 20 years to work together again, but this collaboration is destined for great things, according to one of Netflix’s heads. Thus, Scott Stuber told Variety what we can expect from The Killer, giving the first details of this enigmatic thriller.
The Killer stars Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton. “[Fassbender is] charming and great-looking and funny and all these things that you want him to have chances to show in film. He’s a giant star ready to explode in the world, and he’s just looking for those parts that can take advantage of who he is as a person.” Production for The Killer has started these days in Paris, without a release date yet to be set. “You see what David has done with talent throughout his career, and how he constantly elevates people to do their best work,” Stuber continues. “It’s David working with Andrew Kevin Walker again for the first time in a long time. It’s a really provocative and interesting movie. He’s just in the midst of shooting it right now.”
“The Killer is based on a graphic novel and it is about someone who is a contract killer and the methodology of that world and what he does, which David does detail better than anyone.” If you’re thinking of a series à la Barry, keep in mind that it’s the Fight Club director we’re talking about. “He’s so good in the detail of method, of watching something unfold. Seeing that early stages of what he does, and something goes awry which then affects him personal. It’s a really fun, big movie in the hands of one of the best filmmakers, and someone we’re really lucky to have a relationship with.”