Zodiac (2007)
Crime, Drama, Mystery |.
Zodiac is a American mystery thriller film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay is by James Vanderbilt, based on the 1986 non-fiction book of the same name by Robert Graysmith. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr., with Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, John Carroll Lynch, Candy Clark, Dermot Mulroney, and Chloë Sevigny in supporting roles.
Zodiac tells the story of the manhunt for the Zodiac Killer, a serial murderer who terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s, taunting police with letters, bloodstained clothing, and ciphers mailed to newspapers. The case remains one of the United States’ most infamous unsolved crimes. Fincher, Vanderbilt, and producer Bradley J. Fischer spent 18 months conducting their own investigation and research into the Zodiac murders. Fincher employed the digital Thomson Viper Filmstream camera to photograph most of the film, with traditional high-speed film cameras used for slow-motion murder sequences.
On July 4, 1969, an unknown man attacks Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau with a handgun at a lovers’ lane in Vallejo, California. Only Mike survives.
One month later, the San Francisco Chronicle receives encrypted letters written by the killer calling himself the “Zodiac,” who threatens to kill a dozen people unless his coded message containing his identity is published. Political cartoonist Robert Graysmith, who correctly guesses that his identity is not in the message, is not taken seriously by crime reporter Paul Avery or the editors and is excluded from the initial details about the killings. When the newspaper publishes the letters, a married couple deciphers one. In September, the killer stabs law student Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa in Napa County; Cecelia dies two days later.
Director: David Fincher
Writers: James Vanderbilt (screenplay), Robert Graysmith (book)
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue
Cast:
| Jake Gyllenhaal | … | Robert Graysmith |
| Mark Ruffalo | … | Inspector David Toschi |
| Anthony Edwards | … | Inspector William Armstrong |
| Robert Downey Jr. | … | Paul Avery |
| Brian Cox | … | Melvin Belli |
| John Carroll Lynch | … | Arthur Leigh Allen |
| Richmond Arquette | … | Zodiac 1 / Zodiac 2 |
| Bob Stephenson | … | Zodiac 3 |
| John Lacy | … | Zodiac 4 |
| Chloë Sevigny | … | Melanie |
| Ed Setrakian | … | Al Hyman |
| John Getz | … | Templeton Peck |
| John Terry | … | Charles Thieriot |
| Candy Clark | … | Carol Fisher |
| Elias Koteas | … | Sgt. Jack Mulanax |
| Dermot Mulroney | … | Captain Marty Lee |
| Donal Logue | … | Captain Ken Narlow |
| June Diane Raphael | … | Mrs. Toschi (as June Raphael) |
| Ciara Moriarty | … | Darlene Ferrin (as Ciara Hughes) |
| Lee Norris | … | Young Mike Mageau |
| Patrick Scott Lewis | … | Bryan Hartnell |
| Pell James | … | Cecilia Shepard |
| Philip Baker Hall | … | Sherwood Morrill |
| David Lee Smith | … | Father |
| Jason Wiles | … | Lab Tech Dagitz |
| Charles Schneider | … | Cabbie / Paul Stine |
| James Carraway | … | Shorty |
| Tom Verica | … | Jim Dunbar |
| Jimmi Simpson | … | Mike Mageau |
| Doan Ly | … | Belli’s Housekeeper |
| Karina Logue | … | Woman |
| Joel Bissonnette | … | Inspector Kracke |
| Zach Grenier | … | Mel Nicolai |
| John Mahon | … | Riverside Captain |
| Matt Winston | … | John Allen |
| Jules Bruff | … | Catherine Allen |
| John Ennis | … | Terry Pascoe |
| J. Patrick McCormack | … | Police Commissioner |
| Adam Goldberg | … | Duffy Jennings |
| James Le Gros | … | Officer George Bawart |
| Charles Fleischer | … | Bob Vaughn |
| Clea DuVall | … | Linda del Buono (as Clea Duvall) |
| Paul Schulze | … | Sandy Panzarella |
| Adam Trese | … | Detective #1 |
| Penny Wallace | … | Mulanax’s Secretary |
| John Hemphill | … | Donald Cheney |
| Michel Francoeur | … | Man on Marquee |
| Thomas Kopache | … | Copy Editor #1 |
| Barry Livingston | … | Copy Editor #3 |
| Christopher John Fields | … | Copy Editor #4 (as Christopher Fields) |
| Stanley B. Herman | … | Staff Editor |
| Hayati Akbas | … | Hardware Store Customer (uncredited) |
| Martin Andris | … | Pedestrian (uncredited) |
| David Winston Barge | … | Vallejo Desk Ofiicer (uncredited) |
| Marlo Bernier | … | Detective #2 (uncredited) |
| Felix J. Boyle | … | Airport Passenger (uncredited) |
| Geoff Callan | … | Patrolman Zelms (uncredited) |
| Brad Carr | … | Camera Man (uncredited) |
| Cabran E. Chamberlain | … | Pedestrian (uncredited) |
| Cookie Crawford | … | Informant #8 (uncredited) |
| JD Cullum | … | Director (uncredited) |
| Rod Damer | … | FBI Codebreaker (uncredited) |
| Francois Dominick | … | Informant #6 (uncredited) |
| Judith Drake | … | Florence Douglas (uncredited) |
| Carter Evans | … | Newscaster #2 (uncredited) |
| Mark Falvo | … | Reporter (uncredited) |
| Mitchell Fink | … | Reporter (uncredited) |
| Erica Ford | … | Traveler (uncredited) |
| Ted Garcia | … | Anchorman #1 (uncredited) |
| Gloria Grant | … | Bettye Harden (uncredited) |
| Bryan C. Hartnell | … | Man in Hallway (uncredited) |
| Monica Hartnell | … | Woman in Hallway (uncredited) |
| Tish Hicks | … | Informant (uncredited) |
| Phoebe Holston | … | Prison Guard (uncredited) |
| Michael Hungerford | … | Truck Driver (uncredited) |
| Janis Jones | … | Police Receptionist (uncredited) |
| Roy Lee Jones | … | Distraught African American Male (uncredited) |
| Anna Katarina | … | Society Woman (uncredited) |
| Barry LeBrock | … | Reporter (uncredited) |
| Emily Lineham | … | Witness (uncredited) |
| Marty Lodge | … | Pinole Foreman (uncredited) |
| Danielle McKee | … | Prisoner (uncredited) |
| E.P. McKnight | … | Informant (Hall of Justice A) (uncredited) |
| Jim McNichols | … | Bill Hamlet (uncredited) |
| Cazimir Milostan | … | Internal Affairs Agent #2 (uncredited) |
| Betty Murphy | … | Informant (uncredited) |
| Dave Nemeth | … | Newscaster #4 (uncredited) |
| Derris Nile | … | Office Worker (uncredited) |
| James Joseph O’Neil | … | DOD Project Leader (uncredited) |
| Jeff Daniel Phillips | … | Informant (uncredited) |
| Carmen Plumb | … | Janie (uncredited) |
| David Alan Poe | … | Chronicle Artist (uncredited) |
| Peter Quartaroli | … | Patrolman Fouke (uncredited) |
| Brett Rickaby | … | Detective Roy (uncredited) |
| Michael Rose | … | Navy Project Leader (uncredited) |
| Jack Samson | … | Young David Graysmith (uncredited) |
| John Sarno | … | Donald Harden (uncredited) |
| Micah Sauers | … | David Graysmith (uncredited) |
| Zachary Sauers | … | Aaron Graysmith (uncredited) |
| Bill Seward | … | TV News Anchor (uncredited) |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia