A still from David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button shows a young child gazing upwards.
Despite having directed generational bangers such as Se7en and Fight Club, David Fincher was still perceived as a genre director. Back then, filmmakers couldn't simply pull a Ryan Coogler and make Sinners and be taken seriously as artists.
They eventually had to make a movie that fell in line with the industry's idea of prestige if they wanted that sort of recognition. In fact, the times have changed so drastically that Coogler began with a realistic, character-focused drama, but earned the best reviews of his career for his work in genre cinema. For Fincher, it was the other way around. Acclaimed as they were, his thrillers were never serious awards contenders. That changed in 2008, when Fincher directed the most stately film of his career. It reunited him with his Se7en star Brad Pitt, who played the titular role. Fincher had always been respected as a visual stylist with a keen eye for invisible effects. His previous film, Zodiac, extensively used digital backdrops and set extensions, but audiences didn't notice because the effects were so seamless and the drama so involving. With his 2008 movie, however, Fincher was afforded his largest budget yet; most of it was spent on state-of-the-art visual effects. The film's effects were considered ahead of their time even as recently as 2019, when Martin Scorsese and Ang Lee attempted something similar with The Irishman and Gemini Man, respectively. However, things have changed greatly since then, and what Fincher accomplished with a reported budget of $167 million could probably be achieved for much cheaper now. Related Whatchu Talkin' About, Willis? — The Collider TV Quiz! From long-running series to one-off guest spots, Bruce Willis has been all over our television screens. How many of these appearances do you know? Posts By Macklen Makhloghi Here's How Long You Have Left To Watch David Fincher's Most Lavish Film We're talking, of course, about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which tells the fantastical story of a man who ages in reverse. This required Pitt to look like an old man as well as a young boy. The movie earned Fincher his first Best Director nod at the Oscars, and led with 13 nominations in total at the 2009 ceremony. It won in three technical categories, including Best Visual Effects. The movie grossed $335 million at the worldwide box office, and remained Fincher's highest-grossing film until it was overtaken by Gone Girl. Also starring Cate Blanchett, Mahershala Ali, and Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button now holds a"Certified Fresh" 72% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. It's currently streaming on Paramount+, but it will leave the platform's paid subscription catalog on April 1. Fincher and Pitt are set to reunite on The Adventures of Cliff Booth, slated for release on Netflix this year. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Like Follow Followed PG-13 Drama Romance Fantasy Release Date December 25, 2008 Runtime 166 minutes Director David Fincher Cast See All
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