The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

[MacGuffin]

David Fincher to Direct Benjamin Button
Source: Variety

Variety reports that David Fincher (Fight Club, Panic Room) is expect to direct Benjamin Button, written by Eric Roth and to be co-financed by Warner Bros. and Paramount.

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," the film centers on a man who, at age 50, begins aging backward and the complications that ensue when he falls in love with a woman of 30.

Paramount will handle domestic distribution and Warner will market the film in foreign territories.

[Stefen]

Fincher is all wrong for this. I remember Spike Jonze was going to do this. I wish that would happen. Maybe Chris Cunningham, but I just want him to direct anything.

[Ghostboy]

Well, it's a technological challenge, which Fincher loves, plus its potentially new stylistic territory for him, which is always exciting to consider. I'm more interested in what he does with this than any of the other projects he's been attached to lately.

[Just Withnail]

I agree with Ghostboy on this one, and "interesting" is definitely the right word. Spike Jonze would do great, and that's almost a fact, but I wasn't too fond of Fincher's Panic Room, so seeing him do anything, especially radically different, is greatly anticipated.

[mutinyco]

Spike Jonze would do it too tongue-in-cheek. And as much as I like Cunningham, we need to remember something -- just because somebody is a great visualist, which he is, it doesn't mean he'll be a great storyteller, something he has yet to prove.

I'm just glad Fincher has finally committed to something. And Eric Roth is all over the place right now -- writing Spielberg's Munich film, "A Cold Case" for Romanek and Hanks, and now this.

[El Duderino]

i agree 100% with Stefen...this is a good project, but not for Fincher

[Just Withnail]

just because somebody is a great visualist, which he is, it doesn't mean he'll be a great storyteller, something he has yet to prove.

I'm hoping he'll do that with this one.

[MacGuffin]

DAVID FINCHER HAS 3 MONTHS TO PRESS PARAMOUNT'S "BUTTON"
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Hollywood Reporter reports that Warner Bros. Pictures has boarded Paramount Pictures' long-gestating adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Benjamin Button."

David Fincher has a three-month holding deal to direct the project. But several producers around town are holding their breath to see which project Fincher actually directs next.

The "Fight Club" helmer has been associated with a variety of projects, including Phoenix Pictures' film about the so-called Zodiac Killer, DreamWorks' "The Lookout" and the remake of "The Reincarnation of Peter Proud."

Eric Roth wrote the most recent draft of "Benjamin Button" with previous writers including Robin Swicord. The "Button" project has been in development for some time and has attracted the interest of several directors over the years, including Gary Ross, Spike Jonze, Ron Howard and Phil Alden Robinson.

[FilmSail]

As much as I like Fincher "The Lookout" seems better suited for him. Would maybe like to see Spike take on Button.

[hedwig]

The premise is cool -- I want to read the short story.
Reminds me of something I saw a while back...what was it?....aye, lemme see....

[UncleJoey]

A bit more detail here on the Benjamin Button project.


Fincher Talks "Benjamin Button" Status
Source: Empire Magazine

"What I am desperately trying to do is put this movie together that has been around for about 75 years at Paramount called The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It's based on an F.Scott Fitzgerald short story that's been adapted by Eric Roth. It's a little 200-page script; a sprawling romance between a woman of 30 and a man who, at 50, begins ageing backwards.

It's dark, it's romantic, and it also deals with mortality in a pretty unflattering way. The guy is born in 1919 - with the film itself beginning in the Civil war, travelling around the world and carrying on all the way through to the year 2000. And we'd have to have the lead actor be recognisable from the ages of 18 to 85 years old" says Fincher.

[MacGuffin]

Blanchett, Pitt on 'Case' for Fincher
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are in negotiations to star in the long-gestating adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald story "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which David Fincher is directing.

Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures are co-financing the project, with Paramount handling domestic rights and Warners taking international. Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall are producing.

The story centers on an elderly man who gets younger as time passes and encounters complications when, at age 50, he falls in love with a woman who is 30.

Eric Roth wrote the script. Past writers include Jim Taylor, Robin Swicord and Charlie Kaufman.
 
Pitt is working with Blanchett on a second Paramount project, "Babel," which Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is directing. He next stars in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." His other upcoming projects include "Chad Schmidt" for Columbia Pictures.

A newly minted Oscar winner, Blanchett ("The Aviator") recently signed on to star in "The Good German" with George Clooney and Tobey Maguire. Her recent credits include "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Pitt and Blanchett are repped by CAA.

[modage]

so is this before or after the serial killer thing?

i cant believe they're NOT going with the Kaufman script.  

also: this is a reunion cast for the original fountain, right?  has this been mentioned already?

[modage]

Source: MTVNews

Men have been jealous of Brad Pitt's dashing good looks for years, so they likely won't be thrilled to hear he'll still have the body of a 21-year-old when he turns 50. But that shouldn't stop fans from wanting to see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," his long-overdue reunion with "Fight Club" mastermind David Fincher that will also star Taraji P. Henson. "I am ready," the "Hustle & Flow" actress giggled while revealing that she had been cast in the age-defying drama. "I met [Pitt] already, and we really hit it off. It's going to be amazing." Based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald tale, the flick will tell the story of a 30-year-old woman in love with a man who begins aging backward when he turns 50. "It takes place in 1919, so it's a period piece," Henson said of the film, which the notoriously dark Fincher will direct. "All of the characters age — it's sort of 'The Notebook' meets 'Forrest Gump.' Brad Pitt's character is born with this rare aging disease and he ages backwards, and my character adopts him. So I get to work opposite fine, sexy Brad Pitt — and I have to play his mother!" Laughing, she added: "I'm hoping somewhere in the script we can write in that he has an Oedipus complex." The film is scheduled to shoot this fall for a 2007 release. ...

[Ghostboy]

Taraj P. Henson is an amazing actress, and is a far more exciting counterpart to Pitt than Blanchett (who's also great, but everyone knows that alread, so she's a bit more predictable). I'm so glad they're maintaining the period setting, too.

Two Fincher movies in 2007 - guess he's making up for lost time. Maybe PTA will follow suite.