David Fincher will adapt French graphic novel ‘The Killer’ for his next film

Michael Fassbender could be in line to star in the upcoming thriller, the director’s latest for Netflix.

Words

Charles Bramesco

@intothecrevasse

Despite some polarized reviews for Mank, Netflix-Fincher relations remain stable and amicable. Though the accomplished filmmaker still has an awards season in front of him to get through, he’s started work on a new feature, another collaboration with the streaming mega-studio and a return to his home-turf genre.

Deadline reports that David Fincher’s next film will be an adaptation of the French graphic novel ‘The Killer’, which will steer him back toward the serial-murder demimonde in which he’s spent most of his career. His multi-year contract with Netflix means he’ll produce the film there, though this particular project has been in the works since as far back as 2007 over at Paramount.

The original comic series focused on an assassin “who begins to have a psychological crisis in a world with no moral compass,” a tale of noir-inflected suspense steeped in darkness. As he carries out his assignments, he sinks deeper into madness, and his surroundings soon follow – very much in the same ruptured vein as Seven.

All too appropriately, the script will be drawn up by Kevin Walker, Fincher’s co-writer on that early triumph of his career. In equally intriguing personnel news, Michael Fassbender is currently being floated as the odds-on name for the eponymous role, though his involvement has yet to be confirmed. (Reportedly, his commitment has been firmed up over a series of meetings, though anyone following Hollywood news has heard that one before.)

By this point, we’ve got a pretty good idea about what to expect from a Fincher killer-thriller, but this concept’s origins as a graphic novel may demand fresh stylistic innovation from the well-known technical perfectionist. Each variation on the themes of obsession and alienation has a look of its own, and this one could be the most bracingly untethered from reality yet.

Published 24 Feb 2021

Tags: David Fincher Michael Fassbender Netflix The Killer

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