Illustration by What’s on Netflix – Images: Getty Images / Netflix
David Fincher is currently working with Netflix under a deal signed in 2020, but in fact, he was one of the first major talents to work with Netflix since Netflix Originals were created. Here’s a look back at that slate of titles on Netflix and what’s to come.
The Oscar-nominated director first got his big break in film in 1992 with the third Alien but this dire experience quickly teased the director into major studio-controlled projects that led him to make a series of projects that seemed tailored for the director’s love of the macabre and veered more into the realm of thriller/crime filmmaking.
These features are included Seven, Fight Club, The Game, Panic Room, Zodiac, The Social Network, The Girl With The Dragon Tattooand Gone Girl. Fincher eventually found his comfort zone working with Netflix and has since developed/directed a handful of movies and TV episodes, with his last two films Mank and the upcoming killer thriller The murderer, are some of the most exciting prototypes they have in their feature lineup.
List of David Fincher movies and series on Netflix
House of cards
Type: Series
Fincher’s Role: Producer, Director
First Release on Netflix: February 1, 2013
Image: Netflix
Fincher first made waves on the streaming giant with his mature political drama House of cardswhich had Kevin Spacey playing a crooked politician named Frank Underwood who moves from Whip to President in a fictionalized version of Washington DC
The show’s popularity earned Fincher a Primetime Emmy statuette for his directing work on the first season.
Later, a wave of allegations of sexual misconduct and assault led to the series turning to Spacey’s character’s wife, played by Robin Wright, who acquired the Underwoods’ political ambitions on the show and eventually ended its run in 2018 after 73 episodes.
Mindhunter
Type: Series
Fincher’s Role: Producer, Director
Released on Netflix: October 13, 2017
Image: Netflix
The next series Fincher helmed for Netflix was Mindhunter, a dramatized version of true events that led the FBI to interview and analyze established mass murderers who had been arrested and imprisoned in the United States. Hopefully, they could learn about patterns to catch future killers before they rack up an even more gruesome body count.
This part of the FBI helped inspire the Hannibal Lecter series of books that were adapted into feature films such as Silence of the Lambs and Manhunter.
The three main cast members of the series are Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany and Hannah Gross. Although the serial killer series focused on a group of early FBI profilers was said to be extremely popular with true crime fans, the drama ended with the second season.
More recently, Fincher confirmed the consensus that a third season wouldn’t be in the cards and that it was probably too expensive for a crime drama, and the ratings weren’t where it needed to be for it to continue.
Love, Death & Robots
Type: Anthology Series (Animated)
Fincher’s Role: Producer, Director
Released on Netflix: March 15, 2019
Image: Netflix
A mature animated anthology series that treads the waters of horror and science fiction that is the brainchild of Fincher and Deadpool director Tim Miller, which began as a stepping stone for a revival of the ’80s cult classic Heavy metals but ultimately it did not materialize. It was eventually renamed years later as Love, Death & Robots and landed on Netflix.
A bunch of short stories from that original pitch were used for the retooled show, including the only episode directed by Fincher, Bad trip.
Three volumes have been released on Netflix so far, with a fourth confirmed.
Mank
Type: Film
Fincher’s Role: Director
Released on Netflix: November 13, 2020
Image: Netflix
Starring Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried with a screenplay originally written by the director’s own father, Jack Fincher, the film would tell a dramatized version of Orson Welles’ 1941 iconic film. Citizen Kane.
Scorching social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz races to complete the screenplay, which was influenced by the author’s own observations while mixing in Hollywood’s elite circles during the 1930s that included William Randolph Hearst, its tycoon of an American newspaper called Charles Foster Kane. to rely directly on.
After strong critical reactions, the Hollywood biopic was expected to do well during the awards season. It earned an impressive 10 Oscar nominations in 2021 (including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress). Mank he walked away with only technical awards for his production design and cinematography.
Voir
Type: Series (documentary)
Fincher’s Role: Producer
Released on Netflix: December 6, 2021
Image: Netflix
Movie buffs examine the cinematic moments that moved them, challenged them, and changed them forever in this collection of visual essays.
Is this black enough for you???
Type: Film (documentary)
Fincher’s Role: Producer
Released on Netflix: November 11, 2022
Image: Netflix
Traces the history of black cinema, focusing primarily on the 1970s, with archival and new interviews with many of the era’s key players.
New David Fincher projects coming soon to Netflix
The murderer
Type: Film
Fincher’s Role: Director, Producer
Streaming on Netflix: November 10, 2023
Image: Getty Images
Fincher’s big upcoming production is The murdereran adaptation of the French graphic novel written by Alexis Nolent (aka Matz) and illustrated by Luc Jacamon.
The screenplay was written by screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, who previously worked on the 1990s landmark film. Seven and Fincher’s recent animated feature on Love, Death & Robots. The murdererHis score will be composed by Academy Award winners and frequent collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who have scored all of his feature films since the 2010s The social network.
It also features an interesting cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard, Sophie Charlotte and Tilda Swinton. While there were some flashes of video in a recent video profiling the upcoming 2023 releases, we’re still waiting for a solid teaser or trailer from Netflix to get a real sense of what’s in store.
The official logline for the film is as follows:After a fatal near-miss, an assassin battles his employers and himself, in an international manhunt, insists it’s not personal.”
Untitled Chinatown Prequel
Type: Series
Fincher’s Role: Producer
Streaming on Netflix: TBA
Image: Paramount Pictures
Fincher is also producing a new series tied to the Los Angeles noir favorite Chinatownwhich was directed by Roman Polanski in 1974 and starred Jack Nicolson as a smart private detective who stumbles upon a criminal conspiracy involving the city’s water supply and a series of land grabs on the outskirts by mysterious players who want to drown him out before connect all the dots.
In this case, the series acts as a prequel to those events and likely means we’ll see a younger version of Jake Gittes. Fortunately, he has also brought screenwriter Robert Towne (Mission impossible) from the jump to help develop the series after writing the original film. They also enlisted the help of author Matthew Carnahan (State of Play, Mosul), who had worked G world war (Fincher had been attached to direct a sequel) and Dark Waters.
It’s unclear if Fincher will be directing episodes, but given that he’s directed episodes of most of his Netflix series, we think it’s a good bet that he’ll try to direct at least one episode.
Given Fincher’s established working relationship with Netflix, which is growing stronger by the minute, we shouldn’t be terribly shocked if his next feature film ends up on the streaming service alongside future TV pitches.
What Fincher projects have you enjoyed or are you excited about coming out in the near future?