It is safe to say that Gone Girl is one of the most anticipated films of the fall. It’s also safe to say that we have heard some conflicting information about the film and how director David Fincher has opted to alter the ending of the source novel by Gillian Flynn, further complicated by the fact that Flynn herself penned the screenplay. With that in mind, Fincher has attempted to clarify to EW what he meant when he said that he was “starting from scratch” when it came to the ending. Unfortunately, the result is even more confusing.
Fincher told EW (via Collider) that he has not really started from scratch in terms of the ending, but that he has also, certainly, started from scratch. Here’s what he said in response to the question about “what has been changed from the stage to the screen”:
Everything and nothing .. You’re not changing the marrow of the creature,” he says. “You’re just changing the bone structure and the muscles and the skin … And the hair … It’s all of its outer sheathing. But at its core, it’s exactly what I think Gillian always intended.
Well, that was helpful. Basically, it sounds like Fincher has changed everything about the ending but “kept the spirit” of it, or something to that effect. It seems that he’s being deliberately cagey, as well he should be. No one really wants to know the ending of a film before they’ve seen it.
Gone Girl features Ben Affleck in the role of a man whose wife (Rosamund Pike) has disappeared on their fifth wedding anniversary. The film is hotly anticipated both because this is David Fincher and most of what he does is worthy of comment, and because the source material has been roundly praised. With Fincher’s tendency not to give the game away, he’s successfully made everyone – including people who have read the book – even more curious to know what he does with Gone Girl; as if we needed any encouragement.
If you want more inspiration to see the film, it also stars Tyler Perry, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, Scoot McNairy, Missi Pyle, Casey Wilson, Emily Ratajkowski, and Neil Patrick Harris. Not bad, right?
Gone Girl will come to cinemas on October 3.