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The more I read about this movie, the more I am looking forward to it!

Director: David Fincher
Screenwriter: James Vanderbilt
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Elias Koteas, Chloe Sevigny
Cinematography by Harris Savides

Plot Summary: Based on the true story of one of the most intriguing unsolved crimes in the nation's history. As a serial killer terrifies the San Francisco Bay Area and taunts police with his ciphers and letters, investigators in four jurisdictions search for the murderer. The case will become an obsession for four men as their lives and careers are built and destroyed by the endless trail of clues.



http://www.latinoreview.com/filmpreview.php?id=247

I remember reading about it a while ago and actually getting psyched. And that's the poster!? I think I'm even more psyched! I guess advertising does work.

That poster screams "fan poster" to me, but I could be wrong. Anyway the latest rumors on this are 1) the title may be changed to Chronicles because of a rights issue and 2) it runs about three hours.

The poster isn't doing much for me. Both Seven and Fight Club had better one sheets. That said I'm really looking forward to this. I really loved Panic Room though it received a critical shrugging (and though the 3-disc DVD is an exercise in technical overkill) but Fincher is a great storyteller and visual filmmaker.

Competition for the De Palma film!

I had a feeling about the poster maybe being a Photoshop job. Otherwise, I'm sorta looking forward to it. I saw a special on A&E last year about the Zodiac killer, so it kind of spoiled this for me. But if that poster is right about the cast, it might be one of the better ensemble casts this year.

I'm really looking forward to the team up Fincher and cinematographer Harris Savides -- this should result in a great looking film to say the least.

This is quite an interesting cereal killer, and the prime suspect is now dead. Even though there are things that quasi-prove that he didnt do it, there are quite a bit more pieces of information that would lead many to conclude he had to have did it.
I have always thought that this would be a great film if done right. There are so many things that happened in the case that would seamlessly blend into a film. In fact there are quite a few things that would be a stretch for a film, except for the fact they happened.

I mean the whole notion of the letter he sent in code form, and how none of the top code breakers could break it, other than a retired (police officer?- cant remember exactly), and his wife.
At any rate, im not going to ramble on. This SHOULD be an interesting film for sure, in Finchers hands at least.

foofighters7 wrote:This is quite an interesting cereal killer

They were always after his Lucky Charms!

Looks like ThinkFilm tapped this subject first guys... It's already in limited release.

http://www.thezodiacfilm.com/

Trailer.

Am I the only one who has a hard time imagining Mark Ruffalo as a cop? Also, with Anthony Edwards, if there is a scene where someone is injured, I will want him to use his padels and yell "Clear"

Yeah-I'm confused. I can't imagine that there will really be 2 films about this at the same time....Do we know for sure that the Fincher project is for real, and is something different than this one?

pzman84 wrote:Am I the only one who has a hard time imagining Mark Ruffalo as a cop?

Since I presume that you are one of the few who hasn't seen him do good work as a cop in collateral, I suspect so!

jorencain wrote:Yeah-I'm confused. I can't imagine that there will really be 2 films about this at the same time....Do we know for sure that the Fincher project is for real, and is something different than this one?

Yes. Like Deep Impact and Armageddon, or A Bug's Life and Antz, or Prefontaine and Without Limits before them.

n. w. wrote:

pzman84 wrote:Am I the only one who has a hard time imagining Mark Ruffalo as a cop?

Since I presume that you are one of the few who hasn't seen him do good work as a cop in collateral, I suspect so!

He was in that one, that's right. Sorry, it's his more recent crappy romantic comedies I was thinking of. I can have a very short-term memory.

Yeah-I'm confused. I can't imagine that there will really be 2 films about this at the same time

Plus, and correct me if I'm wrong, but the Zodiac's method was somewhat copied in Dirty Harry

From IMDB: David Fincher decided to use the Thomson Viper FilmStream camera to shoot the entire film, making this the first feature film shot exclusively with the camera, and in the uncompressed digital video format.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:

Yeah-I'm confused. I can't imagine that there will really be 2 films about this at the same time

Plus, and correct me if I'm wrong, but the Zodiac's method was somewhat copied in Dirty Harry

The "Scorpio" character was based on the Zodiac Killer, yes. I don't know about the actual methodologies, though.

Fincher cutting the film in Final cut pro!
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/pro ... ncher_h640

Kristoffer4 wrote:Fincher cutting the film in Final cut pro!
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/pro ... ncher_h640

That was very informative. Thanks! Nice to see Fincher embracing all this new technology (hardly surprising) and talking so enthusiastically about it as well.

Looks like it's getting pushed to January '07:

Source: Paramount Pictures by: Mike Sampson

One of my "must see" films of 2006 has just turned into one of my "must see" films of 2007. David Fincher's serial killer suspense flick ZODIAC has been pushed back from a fall date later this year to January 2007. What gives? Isn't January where bad movies go to die? Didn't ELEKTRA open up in January? Paramount didn't offer up an explanation to the move but since it never had a solid release date, they could easily just say there was no delay as it's release was never set. I would think this would be a perfect October/Halloween type release and to me a January date doesn't make sense but perhaps there's more here to the story than we know. It's just disappointing to wait this long for another David Fincher movie only to find out it's been delayed again. Stay tuned for more...

Far as the January being "where bad movies go to die," I'd say it's more like where would-be Oscar nominees go to slip into the race at the last minute. Show the film in NY and LA once or twice in December, then schedule the general release for January or February.

Not saying that's what's happening here, just saying that January and February are traditionally months where I see a lot movies I've been eagerly awaiting.

backstreetsbackalright wrote:Far as the January being "where bad movies go to die," I'd say it's more like where would-be Oscar nominees go to slip into the race at the last minute. Show the film in NY and LA once or twice in December, then schedule the general release for January or February.

Not saying that's what's happening here, just saying that January and February are traditionally months where I see a lot movies I've been eagerly awaiting.

Wait, someone is mentioning Oscar nominations and a David Fincher movie in the same set of comments? Crazy! I thought that might make the forum implode upon itself.

Considering the subject matter and Fincher's style, it really does feel like more of an October movie though, doesn't it?

Andre Jurieu wrote:

backstreetsbackalright wrote:Far as the January being "where bad movies go to die," I'd say it's more like where would-be Oscar nominees go to slip into the race at the last minute. Show the film in NY and LA once or twice in December, then schedule the general release for January or February.

Not saying that's what's happening here, just saying that January and February are traditionally months where I see a lot movies I've been eagerly awaiting.

Wait, someone is mentioning Oscar nominations and a David Fincher movie in the same set of comments? Crazy! I thought that might make the forum implode upon itself.

Considering the subject matter and Fincher's style, it really does feel like more of an October movie though, doesn't it?

If Fincher didn't get an Oscar nod for Alien 3, then he never will....

I don't want to turn this thread into a Fincher/Oscar debate, but I don't think the studio was ever banking on this film being an Oscar contender. Paramount already has Babel and World Trade Centre (presumably) as their Oscar bait. Fincher - and his films - have never been Oscar bait, and probably never will be (not that he doesn't have the talent, but the Academy doesn't take well to flashy directors. That's why you'll never see Michel Gondry nominated for best director).

Generally the NY/LA limited December/wide release January scheduling of films, falls to smaller, lower budget films. Zodiac is a big budget, star studded ensemble piece, by a big name director with a huge following. It seems inconceivable to me they would stagger the North American rollout for the film.

My guess is that filming is running way behind schedule or they want to properly promote the film and not lose it in the September-December film release crush. Generally, Fincher's film's have had some great ad campaigns behind them and I always thought it was a little strange they were pushing for a Fall '06 release.