20 Things You Didn't Know About Zodiac
9. Fincher Came Aboard After His "The Black Dahlia" Series Fell Apart
Even when Zodiac was in its earliest development stages, Fincher was the first choice to helm the project due to the success of his thriller Se7en.
But Fincher almost ended up passing on Zodiac altogether as he was planning to direct a five-hour, $80 million mini-series adaptation of James Ellroy's novel "The Black Dahlia," based on the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short.
This unfortunately never worked out, and instead a highly disappointing film of Ellroy's novel was instead made by Brian De Palma in 2006.
This left Fincher open to direct Zodiac, who having lived in close proximity to the murders as a child felt a personal responsibility to tell the story accurately.