David Fincher and Brad Pitt clearly enjoy working together, but unlike the working relationship between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp – where the filmmaker will stick the star in just about any lead part, regardless of fit – Fincher only casts Pitt in the proper roles. While they previous collaborated on projects like Se7en, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the director didn’t bring him back for roles in The Social Network, Panic Room, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo or The Game. It’s now been four years since the two men last collaborated on a feature, and while it sounds like they’ve figured out when they want to work together next, it may be a while before we actually get to see the film.
Variety has scored some inside information about the development of Fincher’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea adaptation, and while the good news is that Fincher wants Pitt to play the part of sailor Ned Land, the bad news is that the project is stuck in stasis.
The trade reports that Disney has put a three month hold on the new Jules Verne movie while waiting for Fincher to decide if he actually wants to move forward with the making it. The version of the story has been in development for a number of years, and most recently Andrew Kevin Walker, who wrote the script for Se7en, was hired to do a rewrite of the script penned by Scott Z. Burns (Contagion). The project still does not have the green light.
As for the Pitt casting, apparently Fincher has only talked to the actor about working together again and that no commitment has been made yet. While Pitt would be taking the place of Kirk Douglas, who played Land in the 1954 adaptation of the book, Fincher is reportedly looking for “an older A-List star” for the part of Captain Nemo.
Both Fincher and Pitt have ties to other projects as well. The filmmaker is still waiting on a script for The Girl Who Played With Fire, a sequel to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and Pitt is attached to star in James Gray’s The Gray Man, which has been in development for years now.
