FILM 2002: PANIC ROOM

FILM 2002: PANIC ROOM

TRIVIA: According to David Fincher, Kristen Stewart grew more than three inches during filming of this project. She was smaller than Jodie Foster when the production started and towered over her when the final shots were done.

Nicole Kidman was originally cast in the role of Meg Altman and Hayden Panettiere was cast as her daughter, Sarah. Before filming began, Panettiere was replaced with Kristen Stewart, who beat out Daveigh Chase for the role, as director David Fincher found her "irritating". Then, only eighteen days into filming, Kidman had to leave the film as well, due to a recurring knee injury, suffered during the filming of Moulin Rouge! (2001). Fincher suggested that the studio close the production and collect the insurance, but the studio decided to go on. Jodie Foster was offered the role. She was due to be the president of the Cannes Film Festival jury but withdrew to work with Fincher, with whom she was originally supposed to work on The Game (1997) in the role now played by Sean Penn. Foster had only nine days to prepare for the role. Kidman left a small mark in the film nevertheless, however, as the voice of the girlfriend of Foster's husband in the movie, heard answering the phone when Foster's character calls him in a desperate attempt for help.

Because the sets had been designed with Nicole Kidman in mind, who is much taller than Jodie Foster, the green safety lasers on the panic room door ended up exactly at the level of Foster's eyes, constantly blinding her as she entered and exited the room.

The shot of Sarah's medical bag sliding along the floor outside the panic room took 103 takes.

All of the indoor scenes were shot entirely in the sequence in which they appear in the finished film.

Shot over a period of 120 days, the longest shoot in Jodie Foster's career.

Fincher stated he wanted the film to look and feel as realistic as possible. This lead to an increase in the films budget and a longer than planned filming schedule. The apartment was built in whole and the panic room was built and modeled after real life panic rooms. The real life set and action lead to several minor injuries to the actors during filming as Fincher insisted on doing several scenes without CGI.

The phone number that Meg dials to order pizza from Patsy's Pizza is mentioned to be 579-3000. The area code for Manhattan is 212; the number 212-579-3000 is, in reality, for Patsy's Pizzeria.

Nicole Kidman replacement Jodie Foster substantially altered the tone of the film. Beforehand director David Fincher saw his heroine as a glacial Hitchcock/ Grace Kelly role model. With Foster in the lead, however, the part instantly became much grittier, more political.

The house, which is located at 38 West 94th street in NYC was only used for exterior shots. The house is still there and fans can visit to check it out. It is not currently on the market but if it was it is estimated to cost $7,287,881.

Despite being released in 2002, a year after the 9/11 attacks, the world trade center towers can be carefully spotted in the opening credits sequence.

Despite being remembered as a decent David Fincher film, Panic Room has yet to receive a Blu-Ray release.

Howard Shore did the music for Panic Room. He also did the music for The Silence of the Lambs, which also starred Jodie Foster.

FILM 1800: ZODIAC

FILM 1800: ZODIAC

TRIVIA: The Zodiac case was re-opened after the release of the film.

The only real comment that Robert Graysmith said about the finished screenplay was, "God, now I see why my wife divorced me."

The shooting script was two hundred pages long. To prevent any problems with length, that such a long script might cause, Director David Fincher decided to ask his cast members to speak faster.

The producers hired a private investigator to track down the real-life Zodiac survivor, Mike Mageau.

Hair was digitally added to the close-ups of Jake Gyllenhaal's knuckles as he draws or holds letters. David Fincher felt that Gyllenhaal's hands "were too hairless and pretty".

When Mark Ruffalo met David Toschi, the investigator he plays in the film, he was very impressed to learn that Toschi had perfect recall of every detail of every case.

Robert Graysmith and Paul Avery were not actually friends. Their relationship is fictionalized for the film.

David Fincher was always first choice to direct, based on his work on Se7en (1995).

Jake Gyllenhaal shares one of the film's creepiest scenes with Charles Fleischer. In real-life, the two have known each other since Gyllenhaal was three years old.

Anthony Edwards was cast as Armstrong because David Fincher wanted him to be played by a thoroughly decent person. Fincher already knew him, not so much from his work on ER (1994), but because he was a neighbor.

Because he wanted the film to be as accurate as possible, David Fincher decided not to depict any of the alleged Zodiac murders for which there were no surviving victims or witnesses.

In order to save time, David Fincher decided to digitally add all the blood in the murder scenes.

Robert Downey Jr. was so unaccustomed to the experience of both David Fincher's multiple takes, and the process of filming digitally, that he rebelled against David for "having no time to get my shit together in my trailer" by hiding mason jars full of his urine on set.

(At around thirty-three minutes) Dave Toschi, in real-life, was the inspiration for Steve McQueen's performance in Bullitt (1968). In the film, Graysmith mentions that Toschi wears his gun like Bullitt. Avery replies that Bullitt got it from Toschi.

Dermot Mulroney had to wear a fat suit for his few short scenes, because David Fincherfelt he was in far too good shape for his character.

David Fincher's template for the film was Alan J. Pakula's All the President's Men (1976).

South Korean film Director Joon-ho Bong has classified David Fincher's film as a "masterpiece," writing that "There was really nothing to find fault with about it, down to the cinematography, art direction, and action."

Daniel Craig was first choice for Paul Avery.

(At around fourteen minutes) The bar Paul Avery frequents in the film, is called Morti's. Mortis is Latin for death.

Two of the lead actors, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey, Jr., would go on to co-star in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as The Hulk and Iron Man respectively.

The historical Paul Avery did not withdraw from working at the San Francisco Chronicle to a life of reclusive obscurity, as the film suggests. In 1974-75 he did reportage on the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst which he turned into a high-profile published book, "The Voices of Guns" (1976); he was also married with two daughters, a fact the film does not mention.