The Curious Collaboration of David Fincher and Brad Pitt

This article was written by Pete Turner and first appeared in Media Magazine issue number 36, in April of 2011.

It looks into the work by actor Brad Pitt and director David Fincher, whom is widely considered an auter in his medium of work, and the impact of such collaboration on the arch of their individual (and collaborative) careers.

The article claims that prior to his work with David Fincher, Brad Pitt was massively seen for his physical appearance solely;

"Pitt's recent output had relied on his good looks, and many of the roles he took were in traditional films with a lack of truly interesting or daring characters to play." 

To that end, the work created as a subsequent of such collaboration has since been critically lambasted - the work has been described as "a partnership that has so far produced three sinful cinematic apples", allowing us to infer that the films had not been well received. 

"On release of the film, critics and audiences were divided." 



Given that some audiences were not massively impressed with the first partnered collaboration, Se7en, it was assumed that Fight Club would resonate with a similar tone;

"Producer Art Linson said studio executives expected Se7en in another costume"

This seems to be the pitfall of being an auter, especially so when one has attained a generally mixed reputation based off of previous work. It could, indeed, provide a viable reason as to why Fight Club bombed at the box office, grossing only $37 million.