David Fincher was born in
Denver, Colorado in 1962, and has been making movies since he was 8 years old. Like many kids born in the 60s and 70s, Fincher was inspired by
George Lucas'
Star Wars series, and when he was 18 years old, he got the chance to work at Lucas' special effects shop,
Industrial Light and Magic. During his four year stint at
ILM, Fincher gathered visual effects credits on "
Return of the Jedi" and "
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom."
In the mid-80s Fincher left ILM to direct videos and commercials. He distinguished himself in both industries, directing videos for
Aerosmith ("
Janie's Got a Gun"),
Billy Idol ("
Cradle of Love") and
Madonna ("Express Yourself," "Vogue") as well as commercials for
Nike,
Coke,
Budweiser, and
Levis.
Fincher made his directorial debut with
Alien³ in 1992. Unfortunately,
Alien³ was a critical and commercial
failure, though many blame the writing for its poor performance.
Fincher returned in 1995 with the film
Seven, a grisly detective story that earned him critical acclaim and really launched his film career. With the release of
The Game in 1997, Fincher solidified his popularity with both
Hollywood and
film buffs everywhere. In 1999, Fincher helmed
Fight Club, which was at first considered to be a failure because of its poor
box office performance, but by the time it was released on video, it had been embraced as a
cult classic.
Fincher's uniquely dark visual style and inventive camera work suits the intensity of the projects he chooses. He's also known as having an affinity for suprise endings (evidenced in Seven, The Game, and Fight Club), and is partially credited with bringing them back in style in the 1990s.
Filmography:
Rumored Projects:
- Lords of Dogtown - Fincher recently dropped out of Mission Impossible 3 to concentrate on Lords of Dogtown, which has been confirmed as his next project and is currently in production (as of June 2003). The script focuses on the emergance of contemporary skateboarding which occurred in mid-seventies California. The film marks a bit of a departure for Fincher, whose suspenseful style is generally punctuated by darkness. Dogtown takes place mostly outside and during the day. Nevertheless, I'm sure Fincher will have fun with the film, particularly the skateboarding sequences.
- Rendezvous with Rama - Two centuries from now, a mysterious, immense alien spaceship dubbed 'Rama' enters the Solar System. Earth sends out an exploration team to board the approaching craft, which appears to be a
giant cylindrical tube. Once inside the vessel, the explorers find themselves in a self-contained world of alien wonders and unknown purpose - seemingly abandonded. Based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke, this is rumored to be the leading contender for Fincher's next project(it already has the support of Morgan Freeman.) However, problems with the script have held it back. Its already gone through several drafts, with the principle challenge of balancing the commercial aspects of the production with the hard science of the story.
- The Black Dahlia - Two detectives in 1940's Los Angeles try to unravel the grizzly murder of a young woman. Based on the novel by James Ellroy. Fincher has expressed interest, but its future is uncertain.
Sources: Info gleaned mostly from various interviews, and, of course, the ever helpful
IMDB
Updated 6.13.03 - Added Lords of Dogtown to the future projects list when I read a script review here: http://www.tnmc.org/dp/0320031.shtml. Also add a bit about scripting troubles with RWR.