As the first glances are unveiled of David Fincher’s highly anticipated adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel “Gone Girl,” there’s no question that the “Zodiac” director is up to his usual, intensely dedicated approach. An average of fifty takes per scene was reported during filming, and just this week Entertainment Weekly showed off a cover on the film that Fincher shot himself. But Flynn has remained heavily involved as well by taking screenplay duties on the adaptation, and now it appears her and Fincher are tackling a major change to the narrative together.
In the same EW issue (print edition) that presented “Gone Girl” leads Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike on the front, a feature on the film revealed (via The Dissolve) that Fincher’s adaptation will build to a different conclusion than that of the book’s, and that Flynn handled the new third act herself. “Ben [Affleck] was so shocked by it. He would say, ‘This is a whole new third act! She literally threw that third act out and started from scratch,’” the author told the magazine.
This writer hasn’t yet delved into the book, which follows a husband (Affleck) and wife (Pike) as dueling perspectives sort out the wife’s disappearance, but it’s unclear on the surface exactly what elements of the original ending displeased Fincher enough to change it. The fact that Flynn—and only her—stuck around erases any panicked “World War Z” parallels, however.
Our writer Oliver Lyttleton argued that the book “doesn’t quite stick the landing” back when we assembled a dream cast for the project, but for those who have similarly read the book and anticipating the film (which opens October 3rd): does this new direction intrigue or repel you? Should Flynn have skewed more Frank Miller and stuck with a direct translation? Let us know below.
