Our first look at director David Fincher’s new film “The Killer,” which debuts on Netflix in November after a limited theatrical run, has arrived in the form of a gorgeously illustrated poster that puts star Michael Fassbender front and center.
Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Alexis Nolent, the film follows an assassin who’s battling his employers (and himself) on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal. Fincher’s frequent collaborator Andrew Kevin Walker (“Seven”) wrote the screenplay, and the film reunites the filmmaker with his “Mank” cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt as well as other longtime companions – composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross handle the score and Donald Graham Burt is the production designer.
Illustrated by James Paterson and Neil Kellerhouse and first debuted by The Fincher Analyst, the poster – which is timed to the film’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 3 – evokes the iconic 1903 film “The Great Train Robbery” in which a character fires a gun directly at the screen. The title treatment is evocative as well, as a gunshot marks the two “L’s” in the film’s name.
The cast for “The Killer” also includes Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O’Malley, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte and Tilda Swinton.
The film marks another collaboration for Fincher with Netflix after his 2020 passion project “Mank,” after which he entered into a deal to make films for the streamer for the next few years. He first worked with Netflix on the pioneering original series “House of Cards,” which ushered in the streaming age and an era of binge-releases. He also made two seasons of the true-crime thriller series “Mindhunter” before marking his feature Netflix debut with “Mank.” Prior to “Mank,” his last feature release was 2014’s Fox hit “Gone Girl.”
“The Killer” is another passion project for Fincher, who has been attached to the adaptation since 2007. This marks his 12th feature film as a director.
“The Killer” will be released in select theaters on Oct. 27 followed by a streaming release on Netflix on Nov. 10.
