The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Directed by David Fincher
Produced by Kathleen Kennedy
Frank Marshall
Ceán Chaffin
Written by Eric Roth
Starring Brad Pitt
Cate Blanchett
Cinematography Claudio Miranda
Editing by Kirk Baxter
Angus Wall
Distributed by Paramount Pictures (USA)
Warner Bros. (Overseas)
Release date(s) December 19, 2008
Country United States
Language English
Budget $150 million[1]
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 film loosely adapted from the 1922 short story "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film is directed by David Fincher, his seventh film, and stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, with a cameo by Pitt's daughter Shiloh. The film will be released December 19, 2008.

Contents

[edit] Premise

In the early 20th century, 80 year old Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), is born aging backwards (he was an old man as a baby and young man as an elderly), causing complications when he falls in love with a 30 year old woman (Cate Blanchett).[2] Director David Fincher said "It's dark, it's romantic, and it also deals with mortality in a pretty unflattering way. Button is born in 1919 - with the film itself beginning in World War I, traveling around the world and carrying on all the way through to the year 2000."

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

As early as summer 1994, Maryland Film Office chief Jack Gerbes was approached with the possibility of a film adaptation of the 1922 short story "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which takes place in Baltimore.[5] In October 1998, screenwriter Robin Swicord wrote for director Ron Howard an adapted screenplay of the short story, a project which would potentially star actor John Travolta.[6] In May 2000, Paramount Pictures hired screenwriter Jim Taylor to adapt a screenplay from the short story. The studio also attached director Spike Jonze to helm the project.[7] Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman had also written a draft of the adapted screenplay at one point.[8] In June 2003, director Gary Ross entered final negotiations to helm the project based on a new draft penned by screenwriter Eric Roth.[9] In May 2004, Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures joined to co-finance the project, with Paramount Pictures marketing the film in foreign territories and Warner Bros. handling domestic distribution. In the same month, director David Fincher entered negotiations to replace Ross in directing the film.[2] In May 2005, actors Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett entered negotiations to star in the film as Benjamin Button and Daisy, respectively.[10] In July 2005, Fincher negotiated a deal with the studios to direct Benjamin Button and Zodiac back-to-back, with Zodiac being produced first. For Benjamin Button, New Orleans, Louisiana and the surrounding area was chosen as the filming location for the story to take advantage of the state's production incentives, and shooting was slated to begin in October 2006.[11]

In September 2006, actors Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, and Taraji P. Henson entered negotiations to be cast into the film.[12] The following October, with production yet to begin, actress Julia Ormond was cast as Daisy's daughter, to whom Blanchett's character tells the story of her love affair with Benjamin Button.[13] Filming of Benjamin Button began on November 6, 2006 in New Orleans. The following December, actor Ed Metzger was cast to portray President Theodore Roosevelt.[14] In January 2007, Blanchett joined the shoot.[15] Fincher praised the ease of accessibility to rural and urban sets in New Orleans and said that the recovery from Hurricane Katrina did not serve as an atypical hindrance to production.[16] In March 2007, filming moved to Los Angeles for two more months of filming.[5] Principal photography is targeted to last a total of 150 days, excluding the time it will take to create the visual effects for the metamorphosis of Brad Pitt's character to the infant stage.[17] The director will use a camera system called Contour, developed by Steve Perlman, to capture facial deformation data from live actors's performances. This data then gets filtered into a new physically accurate character rigging system created just for the film, called "AnEmotion", which will assist with the recreation of believable synthetic actors to illustrate the reverse aging of Brad Pitt's character, Benjamin Button.[18] Overall production was finished in September 2007.[19]

[edit] Release

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was originally slated for release in May of 2008,[20] but was pushed back to November 26, 2008.[21] The release date has since been moved to December 19, 2008,[22].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Alexandyr Kent. "ACTION!", The Times, 2006-10-23. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  2. ^ a b Dave McNary. "WB snaps Par 'Button' coin", Variety, 2004-05-10. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  3. ^ Stephanie Hepburn. "THE 'CURIOUS CASE' OF THE LANAUX MANSION", The Times-Picayune, 2007-02-03. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  4. ^ Bill Wine. "Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett Reunite In A "Curious" Movie", All Headline News, 2007-07-02. Retrieved on 2007-07-07. 
  5. ^ a b Michael Sragow. "'BUTTON' TURNS UP NOSE AT MD.", The Baltimore Sun, 2007-01-19. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  6. ^ "'Husband' vows renewed; doc on saint set", Variety, 1998-10-22. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  7. ^ Claude Brodesser. "Taylor sews up deal to adapt 'Button'", Variety, 2000-05-19. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  8. ^ Steve Chagollan. "F. Scott Fitzgerald Gets a Second Act After All", The New York Times, 2005-08-21. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  9. ^ Cathy Dunkley; Dave McNary. "Par popping its 'Button'", Variety, 2003-06-02. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  10. ^ Liza Foreman. "Blanchett, Pitt on 'Case' for Fincher", The Hollywood Reporter, 2005-05-04. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  11. ^ Dave McNary. "Par pinches Fincher", Variety, 2005-07-04. Retrieved on 2007-07-04. 
  12. ^ "Swinton Set to Push Benjamin Button", ComingSoon.net, 2006-09-24. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  13. ^ "Ormond Joins Fincher's Benjamin Button", ComingSoon.net, 2006-10-18. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  14. ^ Stacy Dodd. "Ed Metzger", Variety, 2006-12-10. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  15. ^ Michael O'Sullivan. "Blanchett hits buzz in provocative roles", The Journal Gazette, 2006-12-29. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  16. ^ Doug MacCash. "Camera ready", The Times-Picayune, 2007-03-07. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  17. ^ David M. Halbfinger. "Lights, Bogeyman, Action", The New York Times, 2007-02-18. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  18. ^ John Markoff. "Now Starring . . . Digital People", The New York Times, 2006-07-31. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  19. ^ Kadee Krieger. "FILMED IN MANDEVILLE", The Times-Picayune, 2007-01-24. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  20. ^ Julie E. Washington. "Arts & Entertainment Weblog", The Plain Dealer, 2006-09-22. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  21. ^ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. ComingSoon.net. Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
  22. ^ Pamela McClintock. "'Star Trek' pushed back to 2009", Variety, 2008-02-13. Retrieved on 2008-02-14. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by David Fincher

Alien 3 (1992) • Se7en (1995) • The Game (1997) • Fight Club (1999) • Panic Room (2002) • Zodiac (2007) • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)