This year’s most anticipated movie is The Killer, directed by Colorado-born Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee David Fincher (Mank, Se7en, Zodiac). Taking place in a world without a moral compass, the story follows the journey of a cold-blooded assassin. The film’s lead actor, Michael Fassbender, plays an assassin who is haunted by the repercussions of his assignments.
An illustrated graphic novel by Luc Jacamon and Alexis “Matz” Nolnet of the same title has been in the making for over 20 years. Just recently, it had its Venice Film Festival premiere and has become one of the most anticipated movies of 2023. How much do we know about the film? We break down Fincher’s latest film before it opens.
On an international manhunt, Michael Fassbender plays the titular Killer, an assassin who battles his employers as well as himself. In a recent interview with Variety, Netflix’s Scott Stuber (Battleship, The Kingdom) described The Killer as follows:
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“It is a really fun, big movie. I’m so excited about it. [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. Opportunistically you see what David has done with talent throughout his career, and how he constantly elevates people to do their best work. The combination of those two we’re really excited about. It’s David working with Andrew Kevin Walker again for the first time in a long time [since ‘Seven’]. 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. 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.”
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There is a psychological burden and fracture in the mind of the killer caused by the birth of a conscience in a previously cold, calculated killer. Crime and Punishment, the famous novel by Russian novelist Dostoevsky, explores a similar idea. Despite making a ‘logic-based’ murder, Rodion Raskolnikov spends the rest of his life in accelerated mental anguish as his morality and worldview evolve. It is still unknown how this birth of a conscience will occur, what triggers it, or what consequences it will have.
Following the release of Mank on Netflix in 2020, The Killer is David Fincher’s first film in three years. Fincher has been involved with the project since it was set up at Paramount in 2007. As of now, it is unclear which part of the graphic novel will be used for the movie, since the first volume was published in 1998.
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Nevertheless, we know that it was adapted for the big screen by Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en, Fight Club, Sleepy Hollow). Walker and Fincher reunite for the first time since their gruesome classic, Se7en. Nevertheless, Walker polished scripts for Fincher, including 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and The Girl Who Played with Fire. Sadly, these films did not materialize. Additionally, Fincher’s wife, Ceán Chaffin, is contributing to the project. Production companies like Panic Pictures, BOOM! Archaia Entertainment and Studios are also involved.
On October 27, The Killer will be released in select theaters, followed by a Netflix release on November 10, 2023. Since November 2020, Fincher has had an exclusive contract with the streaming service. He has worked on Netflix projects such as House of Cards, Love, Death & Robots, and Mindhunter. A jaw-dropping $175,000,000 is also rumored for Fincher’s passion project, raising expectations.
With Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan already emerging as frontrunners for their respective films Barbie and Oppenheimer, many fans are already wondering if Fincer will be nominated for Best Director.
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