David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. Born in Denver, Colorado, he was interested in filmmaking at an early age. He directed numerous music videos, most notably Madonna’s “Express Yourself” in 1989 and “Vogue” in 1990, both of which won him the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction.
Fincher made his film debut with Alien 3 (1992), with Sigourney Weaver, Charles Dance, Brian Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Ralph Brown, Paul McGann, Danny Webb, Lance Henriksen, Holt McCallany, Pete Postlethwaite, and Danielle Edmond. His other films in the 1990s include Seven (1995), with Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey, R. Lee Ermey, Richard Roundtree, and John C. McGinley; The Game (1997), with Michael Douglas, Sean Penn, James Rebhorn, Deborah Kara Unger, Peter Donat, Carroll Baker, and Armin Mueller-Stahl; and Fight Club (1999), with Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, and Jared Leto.
Films in the 2000s include Panic Room (2002), with Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, Leto, and Kristen Stewart; Zodiac (2007), with Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, John Carroll Lynch, Chloë Sevigny, Philip Baker Hall, and Dermot Mulroney; and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), with Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Mahershala Ali, Julia Ormond, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas, and Tilda Swinton; for which he received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Director.
Fincher received his second Academy Award nomination for Best Director with The Social Network (2010), with Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella, Rooney Mara, and Rashida Jones. Other films in the 2010s include The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), with Mara, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Steven Berkoff, Robin Wright, Yorick van Wageningen, and Joely Richardson; and Gone Girl (2014), with Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Carrie Coons, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, and Missi Pyle.
Fincher received his third Academy Award nomination for Best Director for Mank (2020), with Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Arliss Howard, Tom Pelphrey, Sam Troughton, Ferdinand Kingsley, Tuppence Middleton, Tom Burke, Joseph Cross, Jamie McShane, Toby Leonard Moore, Monika Gossman, and Dance.
Each review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
Directing
- Alien 3 (1992)
- Seven (1995)
- The Game (1997)
- Fight Club (1999)
- Panic Room (2002)
- Zodiac (2007)
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)*
- The Social Network (2010)*
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)*
- Gone Girl (2014)
- Mank (2020)
Other Credits
- Return of the Jedi (1983)** – directed by Richard Marquand – assistant cameraman
- Twice Upon a Time (1983) – directed by John Korty & Charles Swenson – special photographic effects
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) – directed by Steven Soderbergh – matte photography
- The NeverEnding Story (1984) – directed by Wolfgang Peterson – matte photography assistant
- Being John Malkovich (1999) – directed by Spike Jonze – cameo
- Full Frontal (2002) – directed by Steven Soderbergh – cameo
- Murder by Numbers (2004) – directed by Mike Hodges & Paul Carlin – himself – documentary
- Lords of Dogtown (2005) – directed by Catherine Hardwicke – executive producer
- Love and Other Disasters (2006) – directed by Alek Keshishian
- Logorama (2009) – directed by François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy, & Ludovic Houplain – voice cameo – short
- Side by Side (2012) – directed by Christopher Kenneally – himself – documentary
- Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015) – directed by Kent Jones – himself – documentary
- The Girl in the Spider’s Web (2018) – directed by Fede Álvarez – executive producer
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