Is Zodiac based on a true story? Here's all about it

Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo were seen together in the 2007 film Zodiac alongside Jake Gyllenhaal. The duo's alien-fighting days came later when The Avengers was released in 2012. What's common here is that both films hold 90% and 91% scores at Rotten Tomatoes. The difference is that the 2007 film is based on real events, while the 2012 film is based on comics.

Gyllenhaal, Downey, and Ruffalo play Robert Graysmith, Paul Avery, and Dave Toschi, respectively, all based on real-life characters. Of the three, only Robert is alive today. Paul and Dave passed away, the former in 2000 and the latter in 2018.

David Fincher directed the film with a screenplay from James Vanderbilt, which was itself built on Robert Graysmith's books associated with the case he wrote in 1986 and 2002. The movie made it to several top ten lists, topping a couple of them, one by Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York and the other by Desson Thomson of The Washington Post.

What is the film about?

Mark Ruffalo plays Dave Toschi in the film. (Image via Warner Bros. Pictures)

We will learn of the true story in brief, but before that, you should know that the story revolves around the titular Zodiac Killer, who went on a killing spree in the San Francisco Bay Area. To find out about this infamous case, David Fincher, James Vanderbilt, and Bradley J. Fischer (co-producer) spent 18 months in research for the film.

Zodiac begins with Robert and Paul, who are working for the San Francisco Chronicle, where they first receive the killer's encrypted letters. You will see Downey in his sassy persona again, being the best (which he is, no doubt) and showing off his skills. But they later come together to solve this case.

Ruffalo's Toschi is introduced after these two and is a police officer investigating the case. While journalism and law enforcement are two separate duties, Toschi connects with Robert to provide him with some names that would help in his investigation.

In the end, fans will realize how a seemingly invisible force has taunted the entire police department and newspapers investigating him.

Many consider this to be David Fincher's best work, especially due to the accuracy between the movie and the events that happened when this bloody chaos was at its peak.

Did the Zodiac Killer ever come to light?

Diagram on Coded Document from Zodiac Killer (Image via Getty)

To this date, we still don't know who the Zodiac Killer was (or is). There was a sketch based on eyewitness accounts, but the man was never identified.

All in all, 37 people fell victim to his crimes in 1968 and 1969, as per his claims from one of his letters. Confirmed victims include David Arthur Faraday, Betty Lou Jensen, Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, and Cecelia Ann Shepard. All of them died. Michael Renault Mageau and Bryan Calvin Hartnell were two survivors here.

His killings weren't the only things that made him a popular criminal. His letters and ciphers also had a part to play in this. Out of his four cryptograms and ciphers, two have been decrypted, and two still remain a mystery to investigators.

The case is said to have over 2,500 suspects, and only one remains the most suspicious of being the Zodiac killer, Arthur Leigh Allen, whom John Carroll Lynch portrayed in the David Fincher film.