Zodiac | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | David Fincher |
Produced by |
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Screenplay by | James Vanderbilt |
Based on |
Zodiac by Robert Graysmith |
Starring | |
Music by | David Shire |
Cinematography | Harris Savides |
Edited by | Angus Wall |
Production
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Distributed by |
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Release date
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Running time
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158 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $65 million |
Box office | $84.8 million |
Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery-thriller film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by James Vanderbilt is based on the 1986 non-fiction book of the same name by Robert Graysmith. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey, Jr., with Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, John Carroll Lynch, Dermot Mulroney, and Chloë Sevigny in supporting roles.
Zodiac tells the story of the manhunt for a notorious serial killer who called himself the "Zodiac" and killed in and around the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s, leaving several victims in his wake and taunting police with letters, blood stained clothing, and ciphers mailed to newspapers. The cases remain one of Northern California's most infamous unsolved crimes.
Fincher, Vanderbilt and producer Bradley J. Fischer spent 18 months conducting their own investigation and research into the Zodiac murders. Fincher employed the digital Thomson Viper Filmstream camera to photograph most of the film with traditional high-speed film cameras used for slow-motion murder sequences.
Reviews for Zodiac were very positive, lauding the film's writing, directing, acting and historical authenticity. Zodiac was nominated for several awards and Fincher won the "Best Director" prize from the Dublin Film Critics' Circle in 2007. The film grossed over $84 million worldwide against a production budget of $65 million.