Two pieces of David Fincher-related news arrived today, one to do with his current cinematic project, the other with one he has been attached to, or so we thought. We’ll kick things off with the new trailer for Gone Girl, which you can find below.
Adapted from Gillian Flynn’s novel by the former journalist and author herself, Gone Girl finds Fincher firmly in dramatic thriller territory, with the story of how the outwardly perfect marriage between Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) has crumbled in the light of her disappearance. With Nick trying desperately to galvanise the locals of their small town in the search for his missing wife, the finger of suspicion begins to point towards him.
This first trailer boasts the expected Fincher look and tone, even if the song choice makes us think it’s a dark sequel to Notting Hill with Affleck as Hugh Grant and Pike as Julia Roberts. We’re promised a suitably complex thriller that even boasts an altered ending dreamt up by Fincher and Flynn, plus a cast that also boasts Neil Patrick Harris, Scoot McNairy, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, Missi Pyle, Tyler Perry, Sela Ward, Carrie Coon and David Clennon. **Gone Girl **will be out on October 3 and you can also find the teaser poster below.
But you may wish to scrub one title from Fincher’s to-do list, at least for the foreseeable future. The Hollywood Reporter has heard that he’s dropped out of negotiations to make Sony’s Steve Jobs biopic, which was looking to reunite the Social Network team of Fincher, writer Aaron Sorkin and producer Scott Rudin for an adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s biography of the Apple man.
According to the trade mag’s sources, Fincher was requesting $10 million up front in fees and direct control of marketing, and Sony, in cost-cutting mode, is apparently baulking at the demand. This doesn’t mean he won’t finally end up making the movie, and it’s entirely possible this particular demand was leaked out as a negotiating manoeuvre, but the studio is now looking for other potential contenders.