David Fincher is set to follow his Oscar nomination for Best Director for last year’s critically acclaimed biopic, Mank, with the screen adaption of The Killer graphic novel series. The helmer is preparing to begin shooting the action thriller in Paris this November, El Diario Vasco is reporting (via The Fincher Analyst).
The Killer is set to be released on Netflix as part of the helmer’s four-year deal with the streaming service, but it there’s no official word yet on when the film will debut on the platform. But with production starting later this year, there’s a possibility that the crime drama may be unveiled late next year.
Fincher is set to reunite with his Se7en screenwriter, Andrew Kevin Walker, for the upcoming movie, whose source material was penned by Alexis Nolent. The director will also reunite with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, who won an Academy Award for Mank, which marked his feature film debut, on The Killer.
Messerschmidt confirmed the news of his reunion with Fincher on The Killer when he spoke to El Diario Vasco. His revelation that he’s reuniting with the helmer in France arrived after Fincher and Mank star, Lily Collins, were photographed in Paris earlier this spring, while the actress was there filming the second season of her Netflix series, Emily in Paris.
Michael Fassbender is attached to play the lead role of a cold-blooded assassin who begins to have a psychological crisis in The Killer. He took over the role from Fincher’s longtime on-screen collaborator, Brad Pitt, who starred in several of the directors movies, including Se7en, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
The following synopsis for The Killer graphic novel series has been released by Amazon:
A man solitary and cold, methodical and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, the killer waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. Yet the longer he waits, the more he thinks he’s losing his mind, if not his cool. A brutal, bloody and stylish noir story of a professional assassin lost in a world without a moral compass, this is a case study of a man alone, armed to the teeth and slowly losing his mind.
In addition to Walker and Messerschmidt, another one of Fincher’s longtime collaborators, producer Ceán Chaffin, is also involved with The Killing. The filmmaker is also re-teamong with Netflix on the thriller, after the streaming service released Mank, as well as his the series Mindhunter and House of Cards, for which he helmed and executive produced multiple episodes.