'The Killer' Teaser

If you say the phrase, “David Fincher and Netflix collaboration”, most people will be probably become excited at the thought of a return for serial killing series ‘Mindhunter’. This, then, is a good news, bad news situation.

The bad news first… ‘Mindhunter’ is not coming back, at least for now (according to Fincher himself, it was too expensive for the viewership it did draw). The good news? There is an intense new movie on the way from the filmmaker, and Michael Fassbender is starring. It’ll enjoy a world premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival before a limited theatrical run and its arrival on Netflix’s servers.

A typically Fincher-stylish first trailer is online for ‘The Killer’, which finds the actor as an assassin.

What’s the story of ‘The Killer’?

Michael Fassbender as an assassin in 'The Killer.'

Fassbender is an assassin who, after a fateful near-miss, battles against his employers and himself on an international manhunt that he insists isn’t personal.

The trailer certainly feels like classic Fincher –– moody and dark, with lots of desaturated color and a buzzy soundtrack designed to keep you on edge in the best way.

Who else is in ‘The Killer’?

Fincher has assembled a solid cast for this one, including Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard, Kerry O’Malley, Sophie Charlotte, Sala Baker, Emiliano Pernía and Gabriel Polanco.

And behind the camera, this is a who’s who of the filmmaker’s regular collaborators, including ‘Se7en’ writer Andrew Kevin Walker, who adapts the eponymous French language graphic novel series by Alexis Nolent (A.K.A. Matz), illustrated by Luc Jacamon. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are once more providing the score, ‘Mank’ cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt returns, and Donald Graham Burt is production designer.

Fincher on his latest

The director issued a statement about the movie, as is customary when one is accepted into the Venice Film Festival:

“‘The Killer’ is my attempt to reconcile notions I’ve had for years about cinematic stories and their telling. I have always held: ‘What were you doing in Chinatown?… As little as possible’ — to be the single greatest evocation of backstory I’ve ever heard. I was also playfully curious about the revenge genre as a tension delivery system. So, when Mr. Walker came aboard and fully embraced these notions/ questions about broad brushstrokes of understanding giving way to the blind stitch of ‘moment expansion’ –– I felt we needed to try something. Mr. Fassbender’s 3-hour response time for: ‘Yes, let’s!’ sealed it for us both, and, of course, we all wanted Tilda (Mr. Walker wrote it with her in mind — but please don’t tell Ms. Swinton, she could become insufferable if she knows literally everyone feels this way about her)”.

As mentioned above, the movie will launch at Venice, then release in select theaters on October 27th, and arrive on Netflix on November 10th.