The tale of the production of Hollywood hit The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was just as peculiar. Known as one of David Fincher’s strangest films yet, if not the most bizarre already, this is beyond the creepy CGI resurrections of some of the most popular cultural figures. Known for his cynical tone in film direction, for the first time Fincher delivered something sentimental. This unusual entry in the director’s filmography came with its hurdles. Upon its release in 2008, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a wonderful mix of thrilling serial killer drama and an endearing tale of love and loss. It was just as much an out-of-the-box movie from Fincher that still managed to keep the audience hooked for over 2 hours.
According to a report in Slashfilm, Fincher had been working on this movie for years before it made its appearance on the big screen. But he had not been the only one who had tried to make an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1922 short story.
Before David Fincher, American director William Faulkner wrote a script based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story in 1943, reported Reuters. Back then, people did not seem to be too big on the whole thriller-romance genre. Studio chief Jack Warner refused to let the movie come into existence.
For the next 40 years, its script was forgotten. Until the 1980s brought it back when former agent Ray Stark got hold of the rights. He brought the project to the table of director Ron Howard. But technology was not as grand as it was in 2008 when the movie was actually able to come to the big screen. In the 80s this complex storytelling would require multiple actors to portray the titular character Benjamin Button. The audience was after all supposed to follow him at the various stages of his life.
The project stayed in what producer Marykay Powell called “the development hell” for decades. Even though director Steven Spielberg was able to get his hands on it at one point. Eventually, it landed with American screenwriter Eric Roth.
As a mutual friend of David Fincher and Hollywood star Brad Pitt, not only was he able to produce a new script draft but bring his friends on board. It was not an easy task ahead either, after several rewrite rounds, Fincher was being termed “unfit” to carry the project forward, and there were a host of other issues.
Brad Pitt, David Fincher, and Roth talked over what they could do with a story devoid of any horrific murder tableaus or serial killers. Fincher also managed to convince Paramount that he was the man for the job with his ingenious plan to use the digital de-aging effect on one actor, Brad Pitt, to play Benjamin Button.
Fincher was given the green light and the world finally got to see the movie adaption of Fitzgerald’s short story: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
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