Michael Fassbender plays an assassin falling apart in the first trailer for David Fincher’s highly-anticipated neo-noir The Killer.
The Zodiac and Gone Girl director makes his return to the thriller genre with an adaptation of Alexis Nolent’s French graphic novel series, scripted by Seven writer Andrew Kevin Walker.
Fassbender stars as an unnamed killer who finds his life unravelling after a near miss, battling both his employers and his own psyche. The actor has described it as “a full-on shoot” but a “great privilege and honour” to work with Fincher. The film also stars Tilda Swinton.
Fincher has reportedly been interested in the project since 2007. At one point Brad Pitt was set to star.
It will premiere at the Venice film festival, which kicks off this week, and after a brief theatrical release in October will land on Netflix in November. Fincher’s last Netflix film, the biographical drama Mank, won two Oscars in 2021 and was nominated for eight others.
Netflix’s film chief Scott Stuber, in an interview with Variety, referred to The Killer as “a really provocative and interesting movie”.
“It is about the methodology of that world, which David details better than anyone,” Stuber said. “He’s so good in the detail of method … of watching something unfold. It’s a really fun, big movie in the hands of one of the best film-makers.”
The film marks a comeback of sorts for Fassbender, whose last film was 2019’s poorly received X-Men: Dark Phoenix. The actor has since spent time as a professional race car driver.
This year will also see him star in Taika Waititi’s football comedy Next Goal Wins, set to premiere at the Toronto film festival in September.
