20 Things You Didn't Know About Gone Girl
8. The First Draft Of The Script Was 177 Pages Long
The first draft of Gillian Flynn's screenplay - adapted from her own novel, no less - ran in at 177 pages, which going by the usual page-per-minute rule of screenwriting, would've resulted in a three-hour movie.
Even ignoring how unimpressed Fox would've been at Fincher making this story into a three-hour epic, Flynn worked with Fincher to eliminate subplots from her novel, such as appearances from Desi's (Neil Patrick Harris) mother and flashbacks featuring Nick's dead mother.
Given that the soap opera-style narrative likely would've collapsed under its own weight with a three-hour runtime, slicing roughly 30 minutes away was clearly the right call.