"It's a Costly Process": David Fincher Gives an Update on 'Fight Club's 4K Release

In 2024, fans of David Fincher's (Gone Girl, The Social Network) were surprised with the news that one of his most famous films was getting a 4K restoration: Se7en first debuted in 1995 and instantly became a touchstone in the investigative thriller genre. As Collider's Perri Nemiroff sat down with the filmmaker to talk about the restoration, Fincher mentioned other projects from his career that are up for a 4K release — including Fight Club, one of his most famous movies ever.

During the interview, Fincher broke down why restoration is such a laborious, "complicated" and "tricky" process. The director explains that when bringing a film up to 4K, the restoration may expose flaws in visual effects, "I didn't want to go in and remake the visual effects because I think that's a cheat. You don't get to redo it. You have to just kind of make the best of what you have." Fincher and his team strove to find a common ground between making everything look as good as possible while preserving his original vision. That's what happened with Se7en and Panic Room, and now with his next restoration:

"I'm working on 'Fight Club' right now, but it's a costly process. It takes a lot longer than I thought it was going to take in both cases, both 'Se7en' and 'Panic Room.' It's really a question of who wants to endure because it's hundreds of thousands of dollars."

What Is 'Fight Club' About?

Led by Brad Pitt (Bullet Train) and Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown), Fight Club follows a man who is extremely depressed and frustrated with life. Everything changes when he meets Tyler Durden (Pitt), a cool guy who introduces him to the fight club — a place where men meet to beat the heck out of each other and slowly start forming bonds that lead to a twisted revolution. The movie also stars Helena Bonham Carter (Enola Holmes 2), Jared Leto (Morbius), Holt McCallany (The Lincoln Lawyer), Eion Bailey (From), Zach Grenier (The Good Wife) and Meat Loaf (Ghost Wars).

The movie has an 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but despite its legacy, it wasn't an instant hit. At the box office, it raked in $101 million against a reported $63 million budget, and initially, it received mixed reviews from critics. Controversy helped increase the audience's interest in the story, and in the following years, Fight Club became a cult classic that is referenced to this day.

Fight Club's 4K UHD release does not yet have a release window. You can stream the movie on Hulu. Stay tuned at Collider for more from our conversation with Fincher.

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