«The Killer» is a 2023 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by David Fincher from a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker.
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- The Killer is a 2023 American neo-noir action thriller film.
- The movie was directed by David Fincher.
- The screenplay was written by Andrew Kevin Walker.
- It is based on the French graphic novel series of the same name written by Alexis “Matz” Nolent and illustrated by Luc Jacamon.
- The film stars Michael Fassbender in the title role, alongside Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O’Malley, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte, and Tilda Swinton.
- Its plot follows the titular assassin who gets embroiled in an international manhunt after a hit goes wrong.
- The Killer premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2023.
- It is scheduled for a limited theatrical release on October 27, 2023, before streaming on November 10, 2023, by Netflix.
- The graphic novel “The Killer” (written by Alexis Nolent, illustrated by Luc Jacamon) has been a passion project for David Fincher for nearly 20 years.
- David Fincher was considering numerous projects for his follow-up to Mank (2020).
- However, it wasn’t until he met with Michael Fassbender and they had several meetings together about this project. After having many in-depth discussions and seeing how committed Fassbender was in doing it, Fincher decided to make The Killer (2022).
- This is the second feature film in a 4-year exclusive deal between David Fincher and Netflix with their first film being Mank (2020).
- This is the second collaboration between David Fincher and Andrew Kevin Walker following Seven (1995).
- However, Walker did uncredited writing for Fincher’s The Game (1997) and Fight Club (1999).
- Thiago Palma initially portrayed Marcus but was later replaced by Emiliano Pernía during post-production for undisclosed reasons.
- Principal photography began in November 2021 in Paris.
- Filming took place in St. Charles, Illinois, in March 2022.
- The filming lasted for ten days and wrapped later that month.
- In February 2023, it was reported that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were composing for the film.
- It was confirmed in September 2023 that the soundtrack will feature songs from English rock band The Smiths.
- On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 63 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/1.
- The website’s consensus reads: “The Killer finds director David Fincher on firm footing with a stylish and engaging thriller that proves a perfect match for leading man Michael Fassbender.”
- Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.
- Terming it a “horribly addictive samurai procedural,” Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote that the film is “entertainingly absurd and yet the pure conviction and deadpan focus that Fassbender and Fincher bring to this ballet of anonymous professionalism makes it very enjoyable.”
- IndieWire’s Ryan Lattanzio found it “as unfeeling as any Fincher thriller, at once predictable in its simplicity but also strangely daring because of it”.
- In November 2007, it was reported that David Fincher would be directing an adaptation of the Matz French comic book The Killer, with Allesandro Camon writing the script, Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment producing, and Paramount Pictures distributing.
- By February 2021, Fincher had taken the project to Netflix, where he had signed an overall deal, with Andrew Kevin Walker now writing the script and Michael Fassbender circling the lead role.
- By June, it was reported that Fincher was planning to begin filming in November 2021 in Paris, with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt.
- Tilda Swinton joined the cast in October.
- The movie lasts 118 minutes.
