Gillian Flynn

Made films the shows talk about.

Counted as writer. The films the hosts said they wrote, which the two lists below run through too: Gone Girl (2014); Dark Places; Sharp Objects (TV).

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Mystic River (2003): 2 lines

  1. lineage (inspired her approach) · them, directly: Mystic River ⇒ Gillian Flynn (the maker said so). After failed attempts at novels, Flynn read Mystic River and took from it the idea of a crime that is a red herring for a character story.
    “She said she had many failed attempts and then read Dennis Lahain's Mystic River, which, in my opinion, is an incredible piece of writing.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:31:35 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (template (crime as red herring)) · through Sharp Objects (TV), which they wrote: Mystic River ⇒ Sharp Objects (TV) (the host's read). Sharp Objects and Dark Places are described as Flynn's attempts at the Mystic River-style crime-as-red-herring structure.
    “And so sharp objects and dark places are both kind of like attempts at that, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:32:10 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

A Simple Plan (1998): 1 line

  1. lineage (adaptation model) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they wrote: A Simple Plan ⇒ Gone Girl (the maker said so). Flynn used A Simple Plan as her model for adapting her own novel, then worried she could not match it.
    “And she said, so I tried to use that as a model and then I freaked myself out because I was like, well, this is too good. I won't do this well.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:36:35 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Alex Cross: 1 line

  1. people (led to casting) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they wrote: Alex Cross ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read). Perry's turn in Alex Cross is given as the reason Fincher cast him as Tanner Bolt.
    “Well, that's why Fisher cast him in this.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:09:35 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Big Little Lies (TV): 1 line

  1. unmapped (led to) · through Sharp Objects (TV), which they wrote: Big Little Lies (TV) ⇒ Sharp Objects (TV) (the host's read). After Big Little Lies, projects like Sharp Objects became miniseries rather than movies.
    “And it kind of changes everything where then that type of project becomes, you do it as a miniseries.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:45:09 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn novel): 1 line

  1. lineage (adaptation) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they wrote: Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn novel) ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read). The film adapts Flynn's novel, and the first-person diary trickery was the open question about how it would work on screen.
    “Because it is such like a little fun piece of 1st person narration trickery.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:34:23 · Esther Zuckerman (0.70 sure it was them)

Lolita (1962): 1 line

  1. theme (character type (Desi)) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they wrote: Lolita ⇒ Gone Girl (the maker said so: In the commentary). On the commentary Fincher says he wanted a Claire Quilty type for Desi and found it in Neil Patrick Harris.
    “Fincher said he wanted a Claire quilty type and he's like, what's a modern Claire quilty type?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:18:15 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Reese Witherspoon: 1 line

  1. lineage (originated the project) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they wrote: Reese Witherspoon ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read). Witherspoon took the book and had the idea of bringing Fincher on board.
    “takes this book, has the smart idea, bring Fincher on board.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:20:39 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Steven Soderbergh: 1 line

  1. unmapped (nod to a friend) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they wrote: Steven Soderbergh ⇒ Gone Girl (the maker said so). Fincher put Soderbergh's Singani 63 in the film as a nod to his buddy and let him pick the scene.
    “Fincher wanted to put it in the movie, as a nod to his buddy, Sudi, and said, uh, you can pick the scene where you want it applied.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:25:53 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011): 1 line

  1. people (casting approach) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they wrote: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read). The speaker thinks Fincher's exhaustive casting search on Dragon Tattoo informed how he cast Amy with someone new to the audience.
    “that exhaustive casting search, which I do think informs the way he approaches Amy going into this movie as well”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:55:22 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016): 1 line

  1. people (led to casting) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they wrote: Gone Girl ⇒ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (the host's read). While making Gone Girl, Affleck reportedly joked to his agent that he needed a heroic-chin movie after the evil-chin one.
    “the joke was the chin things in the script, he calls up his agent, while making Gone Girl, and says, like, I'm doing the evil chin movie now, you got to find me a heroic chin movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 1:06:28 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Writing (3) everyone in writing

Other (1) everyone in other

What was said about them, by kind

lineage (1)

  1. lineage (inspired her approach): Mystic River → Gillian Flynn. After failed attempts at novels, Flynn read Mystic River and took from it the idea of a crime that is a red herring for a character story.
    “She said she had many failed attempts and then read Dennis Lahain's Mystic River, which, in my opinion, is an incredible piece of writing.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:31:35 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

None.