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It's been decades since the Zodiac killer case opened in the 60s. Several films have been made based on the man who haunted the San Francisco Bay Area, claiming to have taken several lives and taunting the authorities and journalists with his encrypted messages. But it is David Fincher's version that is considered the events' best adaptation.
His movie Zodiac was released in 2007, starring Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhaal, and others. Fincher's attention to detail, the film's writing, cinematography, and everything else were praised. And after almost a decade, it was named the 12th-greatest film of the 21st century in a poll by the BBC.
Accuracy to the real-life case was impeccable, which also means that, like the original case, we never get to see the killer in the film either. It also featured Arthur Leigh Allen, a man who remained one of the closest suspects in the case until he died in 1992.
Zodiac was the third most cited movie in the top ten lists
Although David Fincher’s film didn’t break into the year’s highest-grossing titles, it became one of the most critically celebrated. It ranked as the third most-mentioned movie across year-end top-ten lists, appearing in selections from Time Out New York, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and several others.
It is understandable given that the year was laden with some of the highly anticipated films, including Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Spider-Man 3, and more. All of them did some serious business at the global box office.
Speaking of the box office, the film made only 84.7 million internationally despite having some heavy star power. About that, Fincher told film magazine Sight and Sound that,
"Even with the box office being what it is, I still think there's an audience out there for this movie. Everyone has a different idea about marketing, but my philosophy is that if you market a movie to 16-year-old boys and don't deliver Saw or Seven, they're going to be the most vociferous ones coming out of the screening saying 'This movie sucks.'"
The only two films that were cited in more top ten lists than Zodiac, There Will Be Blood, and No Country for Old Men, were comparatively successful at the box office because of the lower production budget.
Though David Fincher's version of the case remains a gold standard here, some of the movies and characters inspired by the Zodiac killer in it are a sight to watch. Many may not know this, but the character of The Riddler in Matt Reeves' 2022 film, The Batman, was partially inspired by him.
Martin McDonagh's Seven Psychopaths (2012) also has a brief reference to him, where he is presented as a hippie. Some other films with his reference include Curse of the Zodiac (2007), The Exorcist III (1990), Dirty Harry (1971), and more.
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