david-fincher
Everyone likes a fun fact – You’re having a good time while learning some new information! Here’s a bunch of cool trivia bits from David Fincher movies. Be sure to share these with a friend the next time you watch one of the flicks but remember SPOILERS!

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  • The film has a slew of well documented production issues including creative differences between all involved in the making of the film. The movie experienced continuous rewrites throughout production and filming. After filming ended, Fincher was unaware that the studio went through and did an overhaul on the movie and subsequently disowned the whole project.
  • The newborn alien featured in the film was nicknamed the “Bambi Burster.”
  • Because the picture experienced so many rewrites, $7 million in sets went completely unused.
  • David Fincher is the only director to not provide commentary for the Alien Quadrilogy.
  • Alien 3 was nominated for an Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects. It lost to Death Becomes Her.
  • Read more about the movie in Nick’s post : Hey, It Wasn’t That Bad: Defending Alien 3


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  • The film’s producers initially rejected the “head in a box” ending written in the script. When Fincher signed on for the film, the producers realized that they had accidentally sent him the original script with the original ending. When they confronted the director about needing to edit the ending he refused. Eventually Brad Pitt, who had already joined the project, joined forces with Fincher to demand that the scene stay.
  • Leland Orser prepped for his terrifying interrogation scene by breathing rapidly in order to produce a surplus of oxygen and make himself hyperventilate. He also didn’t sleep for a few days prior to filming to look more distressed.
  • John Doe’s handwritten notebooks featured in the film and its title sequence are all real. The crew spent two months and $15,000 creating the props.
  • Denzel Washington was originally offered the role of Detective Mills but turned it down. He said he regretted his decision after seeing the finished film.
  • Read more about the movie in Jay’s post : 5 Favorite Things: Se7en (1995)


the-game-title

  • Jodie Foster was originally slated to play the role that went to Sean Penn.
  • All of the scenes filmed at the mansion were completed in one day.
  • David Fincher claimed in an interview that there is a can of haggis in every scene of the movie.
  • Spike Jonze has a cameo as a paramedic that inspects Van Orton’s after his fall.


fight-club-title

  • Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk has went as far as to say the movie improved on his novel.
  • Helena Bonham Carter told her makeup artist to put on all of her character’s makeup using her left hand.
  • When the movie was released in theaters, then talk show host Rosie O’Donnell spoiled the twist ending and told all of her viewers not to see the film.
  • Both Brad Pitt and Edward Norton requested to use one of the ‘new’ Volkswagen Beetles during a scene where they hit several cars with baseball bats. Norton said about the car “”It’s a perfect example of the Baby Boomer generation marketing its youth culture to us. As if our happiness is going to come by buying the symbol of their youth movement, even with the little flower holder in the plastic molding. It’s appalling to me. I hate it.”
    According to Fincher himself, there is supposedly a coffee cup in every scene of the movie.
  • During a fight scene, Fincher instructed Edward Norton to actually hit Brad Pitt in the ear while Pitt was anticipating a stunt punch. After the real hit, you can see Pitt is in pain while Norton is smiling.
  • Pitt and Norton are actually drunk during the scene where they are hitting golf balls.
  • Read more about the movie in Lindsay’s post: 5 Things You Should Know About Fight Club (1999)


panic-room-title

  • Originally, Nicole Kidman was cast as Meg Altman and Hayden Panettiere was cast as Sarah. Kidman had to leave due to an injury sustained while filming Moulin Rouge. Fincher described Panettiere as “irritating” and replaced her to better match Foster.
  • The phone number that Meg dials to order pizza from Patsy’s Pizza is mentioned to be 579-3000. The area code for Manhattan is 212; the number 212-579-3000 is, in reality, for Patsy’s Pizzeria.
  • Production designer Arthur Max designed the house that was built on a soundstage and it cost $6 million to complete.
  • Jodie Foster learned she was pregnant five weeks into filming. The crew worked around the pregnancy for most of the shoot and completed other shots after Foster gave birth.
  • The opening scene of the movie took 9 days to film and several months to complete in post-production.
  • Kristen Stewart grew more than three inches during filming of this project.
  • All of the indoor scenes were shot entirely in the sequence in which they appear in the finished film.
  • Read more about the movie in Jess’ post : 5 Favorite Things: Panic Room (2002)


zodiac

  • The filmmakers [Fincher, James Vanderbilt (screenwriter), and Brad Fischer (producer)] conducted an 18 month investigation of the case before filming.
  • Fincher’s perfectionism didn’t fly with the entire cast. Spending more than 70 takes for various scenes, Gyllenhaal was often frustrated. Robert Downey Jr. said “I just decided, aside from several times I wanted to garrote him that I was going to give him what he wanted. I think I’m a perfect person to work for him, because I understand gulags”.
  • All of the blood seen in the film is a product of digital effects. Because of the many takes, Fincher dislikes using squibs and other practical effects methods.
  • The movie doesn’t show the first confirmed Zodiac killing because there were no witnesses to draw comparison for the filming.
  • Multiple actors are credited as playing “Zodiac” because the filmmakers wanted to match the different physical descriptions reported by the separate eyewitnesses and surviving victims.
  • Read more about the movie in Rob’s post : What’s the Deal? Zodiac
  • Hear more about the movie on the FTS Podcast Mini on Zodiac: Episode 182: FTS Mini on Zodiac


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button title

  • The movie was almost made in 1998 by Ron Howard with John Travolta set to play Button.
  • The original short story is set in Baltimore but the movie takes place in New Orleans.
  • This was Fincher’s first PG-13 rated film.
  • Fincher used a camera system called Contour that created facial deformation data based on the live-action performances from the actors.
  • The movie was nominated for 13 Academy Awards and won 3: Best Art Direction, Best Makeup and Best Visual Effects.
  • Read about what beer you should drink while watching this movie in Rob’s post: Beer and a Movie: Old Curmudgeon and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


the-social-network-title

  • Most scenes of the “Harvard campus” are actually shots from Johns Hopkins University. Yay, Baltimore
  • Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won the Academy Award for Best Score for their work in the film. The duo used a synthesizer instrument called a Swarmatron that uses a ribbon controller instead of a keyboard.
  • The opening scene in the movie took 99 takes to complete.
  • The film was shot on the Red One digital cinema camera at 4K resolution. The RED company worked closely with Fincher to develop a lightweight version of the camera that could be used during many of the rowing scenes.
  • Sean Parker’s suits in the movie are styled exactly how the real Sean Parker tailors them including having his name sewn into his clothing.
  • The Winklevi aren’t really twins. You see actor Armie Hammer play both twins while the other actor Josh Pence is only seen from the neck down. CGI allowed for Hammer’s face to be digitally grafted onto the other actor’s face in post-production.
  • Writer Aaron Sorkin directed a scene (and he appears in the movie!) Fincher told Sorkin to take over for a shot in the film which only amounted to about a second’s worth of footage. As far as Sorkin’s cameo, he is the ad executive that Eduardo and Mark meet with.
  • The real Mark Zuckerberg has said that the one thing the film did a spot on job of was dressing the Mark character. The majority of the character’s outfits were matched to exact references from photos.
  • The Social Network was the first Academy Award winning film for Best Editing that used Final Cut Pro.
  • Read more about the movie in Lindsay’s post : 5 Favorite Things: The Social Network (2010)


mara-rooney-in-the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-1

  • Daniel Craig picked out the Enya song “Orinoco Flow” for the torture scene in the movie.
  • Rooney Mara got several piercings for the role including multiple ear, eyebrow, and nipple piercings.
  • Natalie Portman and Jennifer Lawrence were both considered for the role of Lisbeth Salander.
  • The security office shown in the film is actually the office building of Swedish video game company Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment (DICE) best known for video games such as the Battlefield series and Mirror’s Edge.
  • Read more about the movie in Jay’s post : 5 FAVORITE THINGS: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2011)


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