David Fincher is a filmmaker with a very unique voice and style. Once you’ve seen a few of his films and TV series, such as “Gone Girl,” “Fight Club,” “Seven,” Zodiac,” or even the recent “Mindhunter,” you begin to notice what makes Fincher the filmmaker he is. This has led fans to use the term “Fincher-esque” to describe other films and directors that have similar styles. But according to Fincher, himself, he doesn’t necessarily like that term, but he does admit that having a distinct style lends itself to some advantages.
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Speaking in a recent interview with Empire, where he answered a ton of fan questions, Fincher was asked about his style and what it’s like to be “Fincher-esque.” In addition, the director discussed the reason he’s working with streaming services like Netflix recently and why he doesn’t think a James Bond film is in his future.
“‘Fincher-esque’ makes me a little queasy,” he explained about the oft-used term. “Although I think it’s a good thing to have an audience have some expectation of you because it gives you opportunities to subvert that. When you’re making a movie like ‘Gone Girl,’ it’s not a bad thing that people have seen ‘Seven’ and know that shit can go seriously off the rails. The threat of that is actually kind of positive. You get to play with expectations. It’s your responsibility to be aware of that and use it to your advantage, as opposed to letting it get in the way of the story you’re trying to tell.”
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So, if not “Fincher-esque,” how can someone describe the type of films that the filmmaker likes to make? Well, in today’s film industry, the easiest term might be “streaming films.” Why? Because the elimination of the mid-budget drama on the big screen has forced Fincher, and filmmakers of his ilk, to seek opportunities with Netflix and other streaming platforms.
“They have never been easy to get made,” said the filmmaker about the types of work he prefers to create. “I don’t think that for so many years it was knees akimbo to get your weird $60 million dramas made. What Netflix has made possible is for people to still give attention to things that are in the $30-$50 million range, instead of just splitting the world down the middle, between a $200-million or $14-million movie. I like enough money to get into trouble and not enough money that you get hurt if it doesn’t do $60 million its opening weekend.”
So, if he can’t get his “weird $60 million dramas” on the big screen, why not jump into a film franchise? Something like James Bond, perhaps?
“I talked about doing a James Bond movie,” Fincher revealed. “I think it was in and around ‘GoldenEye.’ But, no, I don’t think I would flourish in that environment.”
Unless the tides of the film industry change, it would appear that fans hoping for new “Fincher-esque” work from one of the best directors working today will have to hold onto their streaming subscriptions.
