The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

[MacGuffin]

Pitt is Benjamin Button; May Also Get into a State of Play

Well, there'll be no changing diapers for Brad Pitt in the near future. Right after he finishes shooting Ocean's Thirteen this summer, he's finally agreed (negotiations began more than a year ago) to star in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a David Fincher-directed project that will begin production this fall. Based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, the film will tell the story of a man who, once he hits the big five-oh, begins aging backwards. Apart from the surely inevitable terror of turning 13 again, Button's life takes yet another troubling turn when he falls love with a woman of 30 (to be played by Cate Blanchett), who probably won't dig him anymore when he's a teen. Though the movie has reportedly been being tossed around in Hollywood for more than a decade, this is the first time it's actually neared production.

In addition, Variety reported this morning that Pitt has also expressed interested in starring in State of Play, a big-screen, Americanized version of a BBC miniseries. In the story, the central character is "a journalist and former campaign manager of a fast-rising politician who unravels a murder conspiracy involving his former boss." Pitt's involvement in this project so far is limited to his own interest; nothing has been signed, and there's no indication that negotiations have even begun.

[polkablues]

a woman of 30 (to be played by Cate Blanchett)

No offense to Cate, but even when she was thirty she didn't look thirty.

[modage]

man why does everyone keep pairing these two up together?  original Fountain, Babel, this.  its crazy!

[MacGuffin]

Swinton Set to Push Benjamin Button
Source: Production Weekly

Production Weekly reports that Tilda Swinton (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Constantine) is in talks to star opposite Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Jason Flemyng and Taraji P. Henson are also in negotiations to join the cast.

Written by Eric Roth from a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the drama casts Pitt as a man who hits age 50 and begins aging backward. Complications ensue when he falls in love with a woman of 30, played by Blanchett.

Shooting starts November 6th in New Orleans and photography wraps in Los Angeles on February 7th.

[Pubrick]

a man who hits age 50 and begins aging backward. Complications ensue when he falls in love with a woman of 30.

you'd think complications would ensue when he begins aging backwards.

i'm about to read the short story online.

[JG]

well it took you a couple years, but i'm glad you've come to this realization. 

[Pubrick]

well it took you a couple years, but i'm glad you've come to this realization. 

i haven't realized anything.

[JG]

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.

a man who hits age 50 and begins aging backward. Complications ensue when he falls in love with a woman of 30.

you'd think complications would ensue when he begins aging backwards.

...or is it a conclusion? 

i almost had you

[Pubrick]

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.

a man who hits age 50 and begins aging backward. Complications ensue when he falls in love with a woman of 30.

you'd think complications would ensue when he begins aging backwards.

...or is it a conclusion? 

oh, i hadn't read the synopsis before. if i had quoted that original one from 2004 it could be considered a realisation. or if someone else had made the same observation back then.

i almost had you

you'll never have me

[MacGuffin]

Julia Ormond Joins Benjamin Button
Added to David Fincher's next pic
Source: Variety

Former Legends Of The Fall co-star Julia Ormond is back in Brad Pitt's arms. Actually, not so much – despite having joined the cast of David Fincher's Pitt-centric The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, it's unlikely the pair will even share a scene.

Ormond has been cast as Cate Blanchett's daughter, the woman to whom the aged Blanchett will tell the tale of her love affair with Button. You'll recall that the story finds Pitt's character aging backwards and falling in love with Blanchett.

Fincher plans to start work on the film next month, while Ormond will next be seen in David Lynch's Inland Empire. That's provided he can get some distribution for the three-hour film, of course.

[Pubrick]

whoever that is.

[modage]

Fear not, ladies, Brad Pitt hasn't gone off the deep end and shaved his head. He's merely wearing a bald cap for THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, the romantic dramedy he's currently filming under long-time director pal David Fincher. Based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story of the same name, in it, Pitt stars as a middle-aged man who falls in love with a thirty-year old woman (played by Cate Blanchett) and then finds himself aging backwards. Hilarity and hijinks? Oh, they ensue, baby!  The film is tentatively scheduled for a May 2008 release.

[mogwai]

bumping this mofo up to ensure myself there is something news about the movie. the last post is from december so a trailer or some new pics is up soon.

[MacGuffin]

Very Early Buzz on Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Source: Hollywood Elsewhere

One of the movies that was mentioned in our article about Why 2008 Will Be An Awesome Year was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The film is the latest from David Fincher, the director of Fight Club and Zodiac. Everyone knows (or should know) that Fincher is a phenomenal filmmaker, from the visuals and camerawork in his films to his storytelling and rich characters. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tells the story of Benjamin Button, played by Brad Pitt, a man who starts aging backwards (from old to young) with bizarre consequences. You probably haven't heard of it yet, because it hasn't started its marketing, but an early reaction from a woman who was a costume designer on the film has practically started the buzz.

From Jeffrey Wells' Hollywood Elsewhere comes an e-mail from one of his long-timer readers. Although hardly anyone can be trusted these days, this does sound quite legit (and not too over-the-top). If it is the truth, then this certainly gets me excited for Benjamin Button, almost more than most movies this year.

"A friend of my wife's who is a costume designer was back in Pittsburgh visiting family over the holidays. During her visit we were discussing interesting projects she is or will be working on, and she said she's unequivocally excited about her latest film — The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

"Top to bottom she said the set and production was a dream, that both David Fincher and Brad Pitt were consummate professionals, and that the script was top-notch — the only script she can recall making her cry, she said. She added that the look and scope of design of the film while ambitious is also intricate and exacting."

"Furthermore, she mentioned that some of the sequences they saw that had been edited were absolutely stunning. Her description of the mood of those who worked on it is that of bated breath — a near universal belief that they have made an outstanding and moving film, one that transcends and one they wish not to jinx by too much loose talk."

"I take this with more than a passing interest as she has worked on Traffic, all of the Ocean's movies, Solaris and Miami Vice."

"My point is that she has been on top-notch productions and is not prone to be star struck or taken aback by every project she works on. However, in this case, she thinks this will be one of the highlights of her career."

The film is an adaptation from a 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The script was written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth, of Forrest Gump, Munich, and The Good Shepherd. Fitzgerald noted that "This story was inspired by a remark of Mark Twain's to the effect that it was a pity that the best part of life came at the beginning and the worst part at the end." The story was recently re-released this year in the form of a book in preparation for the film - you can find it on Amazon.com.

I couldn't imagine a better story for David Fincher to take on than one based around a saying like that. Just look at what he did with Fight Club! That email above has definitely shot my interest up from relatively mild to extreme and now I'm anxiously awaiting the next news on Benjamin Button, whether it's a just picture or the trailer.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is currently set to arrive in theaters on November 26th.

[modage]

David Fincher 49 Minute Audio Interview!
Source: Hollywood Elsewhere

Given the longish length of Zodiac (the Director's Cut DVD runs 162 minutes) and the general theme of obsessiveness and meta-detail, it seemed fitting that this morning's phoner with director David Fincher should run longer than usual and go into a little more technical detail than normal. We talked for 49 minutes and the time just flew.

We began by discussing Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount, 11.28), which he hasn't test-screened or even come close to finishing. To go by yesterday's posting (which came second-hand from a below-the-liner who allegedly worked on it), this adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1922 short story may be more emotionally affecting than the Fincher usual-usual, which has always been on the dark, visually audacious side.

I told Fincher my only problem thus far is with the name "Benjamin Button," which sounds like something out of Hans Christian Andersen. Fincher doubts if the title means anything to anyone these days, and doesn't hold the Fitzgerald association in terribly high regard. "He probably wrote the story for drinking money," he says.

We moved on to (a) digital photography and the revolutionary qualities that after-dusk images now possess; (b) a reported tendency on his part to ask certain actors (or at least Zodiac costar Jake Gyllenhaal) to perform numerous takes of a given scene until it's right; (c) the bizarre cuts that were made to Zodiac due to test-screening reactions (like the 45-second black-screen time-passage sequence), (d) the fact that Zodiac is currently listed as the 4th best film of '07 on the Movie City News critics' chart (even though this liking hasn't translated to any Best Picture awards), and so on.

The money quote comes right at the beginning when Fincher asks me, "Where do I send the check?" Again, the interview in all of its raging 49-minute glory.