Trivia / Zodiac (2007)

• Acclaimed Flop: It flopped at the box office and received no Oscar nominations, but most critics gave it positive reviews and very quickly picked up steam as one of the best-regarded films of Fincher's career.
• Actor Allusion: Paul Avery is an alcoholic who eventually turns to cocaine. His mental and physical health suffer as a result and his career take a huge downturn. Robert Downey Jr. was a rising star in the 80’s and earned critical acclaim for his title role in the Biopic Chaplin. But then he had serious issues with substance abuse and his personal life and career suffered as a result. He had gotten clean by the time of this film’s release which was seen as the start of legendary Career Resurrection.
• Dawson Casting: Mike Mageau at age 19 is played by 25-year-old Lee Norris, and at age 41 is played by 31-year-old Jimmi Simpson. The two actors are only 6 years apart despite playing the character separated by 22 years.
• The Foreign Subtitle:
  • Germany: Zodiac: The Killer's Trail
• Hostility on the Set: David Fincher forced the cast to stay on set for hours without a break as he demanded take after take. Robert Downey Jr. got so frustrated that he began peeing in jars and leaving them around the set as a form of protest.
• Real-Place Background: Scenes set in the newsroom were filmed in the real Los Angeles Times newsroom.
• Uncredited Role: Ione Skye appears in this movie in an uncredited cameo. "Hurdy Gurdy Man", by her father, Donovan, is used prominently in the soundtrack.
• Underage Casting: Jake Gyllenhaal was 27 at the time but Robert Graysmith is in his 30's for most of the story, and early 40's by the end.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Initially David Fincher wanted to cast Brad Pitt as Avery, before he settled on Robert Downey Jr.. Daniel Craig was the first choice.
  • Even though Jake Gyllenhaal was Fincher's first choice for the role of Robert Graysmith, had Gyllenhaal turned the role down, Fincher's second choice was Orlando Bloom.
  • Originally, Gary Oldman was to play Melvin Belli but "he went to a lot of trouble, they had appliances, but just physically it wasn't going to work, he just didn't have the girth", Robert Graysmith said.
  • Linda del Buono was originally played by Bijou Phillips but Fincher replaced her with Clea Duvall.

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