In Conversation: David Fincher and The Crew of “The Killer” at the Academy Museum

Elvis Mitchell
October 24, 2023
Netflix: Behind the Streams

Director David Fincher, Editor Kirk Baxter, Writer Andrew Kevin Walker, Sound Designer Ren Klyce, and Director of Photography Erik Messerschmidt, discuss their film The Killer with moderator Elvis Mitchell at The Academy Museum in Los Angeles.

Watch the conversation with subtitles in French, Spanish, and Italian.

Watch The Killer on Netflix

David Fincher and Sound Designer Ren Klyce at The Egyptian Theater: “The Killer” Screening and Q&A

Jim Hemphill
November 9, 2023
West Coast POPCast (YouTube)

The Egyptian Theatre re-opened in Hollywood with a special screening of The Killer, followed by a Q&A with Director David Fincher and Sound Designer Ren Klyce hosted by Jim Hemphill.

David Fincher at The Cinémathèque Française: “The Killer” Screening and Q&A

Frédéric Bonnaud, Director of the Cinémathèque française
Anaïs Duchet, Interpreter
October 13, 2023
Cinémathèque Française

The Cinémathèque Française (French Cinematheque) hosted a David Fincher Retrospective from October 13 to 22, 2023, in Paris (France).

Supported by Netflix, Patron of the Cinémathèque, it opened with a preview screening of The Killer followed by a Q&A with Director David Fincher, and Director of Photography Erik Messerschmidt, ASC.

The next day, a screening of Zodiac was followed by a discussion with the director about the film and his career.

Mix Presents Sound For Film: The Sound of “The Killer”

Awards Season 2023

Jennifer Walden
December 13, 2023
Mix

Join Mix’s Jennifer Walden as she speaks with the audio pros behind director David Fincher’s action thriller, ‘The Killer.’ Discussing their work on the film are:

  • Ren Klyce, Sound Designer, Re-recording Mixer, and Supervising Sound Editor
  • Jeremy Molod, Supervising Sound Editor
  • Stephen Urata, Re-recording Mixer
  • Drew Kunin, Production Sound Mixer

Presented by Netflix.

Behind the Scenes: Ren Klyce and David Fincher on The Sound of “The Killer”

December 12, 2023
Netflix: Behind the Streams

Sound Designer Ren Klyce discusses his work on The Killer with director David Fincher.

The Killer is now playing on Netflix

David Fincher and “The Killer” Crew Break Down The Brute vs The Killer Fight Scene

December 9, 2023
Netflix: Behind the Streams

Director David Fincher, Editor Kirk Baxter, Sound Designer Ren Klyce, Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, and Stunt Coordinator Dave Macomber break down the fight sequence between The Brute and The Killer in The Killer.

The Killer is now playing on Netflix

The Screenplay for “The Killer” by Andrew Kevin Walker

Andrew Kevin Walker
December 9, 2023
andrewkevinwalker.com

How lucky am I to have been involved in this amazing project, with so many talented people?

It’s a production draft – shooting script, basically – imperfect + rough around the edges, with some incongruous prose, for example, + sluglines doing utilitarian work, but… thanks to the kind permission of Netflix, for those interested, here’s the link to the script for The Killer.

The Killer is now playing on Netflix

Follow Andrew Kevin Walker on Instagram

Here’s Every Sitcom Code Name Michael Fassbender Uses in ‘The Killer’

The titular assassin of the new David Fincher thriller travels the world under a few familiar pseudonyms.

John Dilillo
November 10, 2023
Tudum by Netflix

What’s a hit man without a code name? James Bond is 007; The Gray Man’s Court Gentry is Sierra Six; even Get Smart’s Maxwell Smart goes by Agent 86 when he’s on the clock. In David Fincher’s new assassin thriller The Killer, the titular professional has more than a few pseudonyms, and they all have a shared origin. Played by Michael Fassbender, this killer has a taste for television — every one of his aliases is borrowed from a classic sitcom. “He may have been raised on [television],” says The Killer screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker (who previously teamed with Fincher on their shared breakout Se7en). “It may have been more of a parent to him than any parent.”

The running gag originated with an earlier Fincher/Walker collaboration. “I was doing a polish on Fight Club,” Walker tells Tudum. “Fincher and I realized that Edward Norton’s character had to have little name badges on, or sign up sheets for his support groups he would go to. And Fincher was like, ‘Well, let’s just use names from Planet of the Apes, like Dr. Zaius or Cornelius, etcetera.’ ”

When Walker began working on The Killer, he decided to similarly sneak casual sitcom name-drops into scenes where the main character introduces himself, as a subtle Easter egg for particularly discerning viewers. Fincher persuaded him to blow the idea up further. “I started even more obscure than they are now, with characters like Mr. Mooney,” foil to Lucille Ball on her ’60s vehicle The Lucy Show, Walker says. “It’s the genius of Fincher that he was like, ‘OK, here’s your kind of silly little hidden joke. Let’s bring it forward.’ ”

Under Fincher’s watchful eye, the production made sure to spotlight each and every alias. “When he was shooting a lot of the car interiors and doing a few tiny reshoots and inserts,” Walker says of Fincher, “he shot close-ups of plane tickets, close-ups of the driver’s license, he made sure to show every single name first and last.” You can see each of those names — as well as a handy guide to which sitcoms they spring from — below. 

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