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Shooting Zodiac
From the National Bestselling Author of 'Zodiac' , 'Auto Focus' and 'Black Fire'.
DAVID FINCHER WAS AFTER THE TRUTH.
WITHOUT IT, HE WOULD NOT SHOOT ZODIAC.
FOR NEARLY TWO DECADES, Hollywood had been trying to make a movie of Zodiac, and for nearly two decades, it had failed.
In 2003, producer Brad Fischer, and screenwriter Jamie Vanderbilt attempted the undoable, and set their sights on the one filmmaker they felt unequalled for the helm: director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club).
Fincher’s eye for detail, probing mind, and unrelenting quest for answers made him ideal. His personal connection to the case made him perfect.
From Hollywood boardrooms to remote fog-shrouded crime scenes, they battle a huge script that refuses to be beaten, a case that refuses to be solved, and a running time and budget that threaten their film.
Follow as they track down missing witnesses, gather the original investigators, visit the original crime scenes, discover boxes of Zodiac case files from an attic, unearth new clues, a videotape of the prime suspect’s police interrogation, and a surviving victim who doesn’t want to be found.
To keep Fincher on board, and get their film greenlit, it will take cold leads, private eyes, new evidence, and most of all, perseverance.
“He’s hooked. If he doesn’t make the film, he’ll solve the case.”
—Detective Ken Narlow
“SOMETHING DRAWS THE GIRL’S attention,” David Fincher said. The maverick director paused at the spot along the shore Captain Ken Narlow had indicated. Something was not right. Fincher looked down at the rocky ground and the steep slope of the rotting tree as if he had not seen them before. Without a word he wheeled and walked some distance around to the adjacent peninsula. The retired detectives watched the celebrated filmmaker follow the curve of land and circle to a little inlet on the other bank. His head was down as he took long, athletic strides. Suddenly, he knelt and studied the ground. He picked up a fistful of earth, let it drift between his fingers, and watched as the wind carried the reddish particles away. He looked up at the road high above where the victims’ car had been found, then looked back at the tree. Next, he tossed a few rocks in the air and gazed to the center of the lake where it was a couple hundred feet deep. Fincher wondered what other mysteries might be buried there. Further up, underneath the dam at Devil’s Gate, was the narrow point of Putah Creek.
Fincher returned from his scouting trip and made an announcement. His voice was confident and clear, ringing out over the lake. “The other side of the little island out there is much more vertical than this side,” he said. “I think that is the actual murder site.”
“Let’s go over and take a look,” Narlow said and started north with Jamie Vanderbilt. “I’m not one hundred percent convinced this is the place.” When Narlow reached the other side of the inlet, he clapped a hand to his forehead and then hailed Fincher and the rest of the men across the water. “My God!” he hollered, “I took you to the wrong spot!”
In that arcane way he had of penetrating to the heart of a riddle, Fincher had discerned the truth. He became quiet as he began working the puzzle of the open taxi door, the blood that should have been elsewhere, a bloody print that belonged to no one, and the shot nobody heard.
“David’s considered one of the touchiest and weirdest directors by executives, but as a writer I consider him the nicest and most normal of them all. But maybe the same thing that is wrong with him is wrong with me.”
—Jamie Vanderbilt, screenwriter
DAVID FINCHER WAS AFTER THE TRUTH.
WITHOUT IT, HE WOULD NOT SHOOT ZODIAC.
FOR NEARLY TWO DECADES, Hollywood had been trying to make a movie of Zodiac, and for nearly two decades, it had failed.
In 2003, producer Brad Fischer, and screenwriter Jamie Vanderbilt attempted the undoable, and set their sights on the one filmmaker they felt unequalled for the helm: director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club).
Fincher’s eye for detail, probing mind, and unrelenting quest for answers made him ideal. His personal connection to the case made him perfect.
From Hollywood boardrooms to remote fog-shrouded crime scenes, they battle a huge script that refuses to be beaten, a case that refuses to be solved, and a running time and budget that threaten their film.
Follow as they track down missing witnesses, gather the original investigators, visit the original crime scenes, discover boxes of Zodiac case files from an attic, unearth new clues, a videotape of the prime suspect’s police interrogation, and a surviving victim who doesn’t want to be found.
To keep Fincher on board, and get their film greenlit, it will take cold leads, private eyes, new evidence, and most of all, perseverance.
“He’s hooked. If he doesn’t make the film, he’ll solve the case.”
—Detective Ken Narlow
“SOMETHING DRAWS THE GIRL’S attention,” David Fincher said. The maverick director paused at the spot along the shore Captain Ken Narlow had indicated. Something was not right. Fincher looked down at the rocky ground and the steep slope of the rotting tree as if he had not seen them before. Without a word he wheeled and walked some distance around to the adjacent peninsula. The retired detectives watched the celebrated filmmaker follow the curve of land and circle to a little inlet on the other bank. His head was down as he took long, athletic strides. Suddenly, he knelt and studied the ground. He picked up a fistful of earth, let it drift between his fingers, and watched as the wind carried the reddish particles away. He looked up at the road high above where the victims’ car had been found, then looked back at the tree. Next, he tossed a few rocks in the air and gazed to the center of the lake where it was a couple hundred feet deep. Fincher wondered what other mysteries might be buried there. Further up, underneath the dam at Devil’s Gate, was the narrow point of Putah Creek.
Fincher returned from his scouting trip and made an announcement. His voice was confident and clear, ringing out over the lake. “The other side of the little island out there is much more vertical than this side,” he said. “I think that is the actual murder site.”
“Let’s go over and take a look,” Narlow said and started north with Jamie Vanderbilt. “I’m not one hundred percent convinced this is the place.” When Narlow reached the other side of the inlet, he clapped a hand to his forehead and then hailed Fincher and the rest of the men across the water. “My God!” he hollered, “I took you to the wrong spot!”
In that arcane way he had of penetrating to the heart of a riddle, Fincher had discerned the truth. He became quiet as he began working the puzzle of the open taxi door, the blood that should have been elsewhere, a bloody print that belonged to no one, and the shot nobody heard.
“David’s considered one of the touchiest and weirdest directors by executives, but as a writer I consider him the nicest and most normal of them all. But maybe the same thing that is wrong with him is wrong with me.”
—Jamie Vanderbilt, screenwriter
- GenresNonfictionTrue Crime
354 pages, Hardcover
Published August 31, 2021
14 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Robert Graysmith
22 books324 followersROBERT GRAYSMITH is the New York Times Bestselling author and illustrator of
Zodiac
,
Auto Focus
, and
Black Fire
. He was the political cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle when the letters and cryptograms from the infamous Zodiac killer were opened in the morning editorial meetings. He lives in San Francisco where he continues to write and illustrate.
Graysmith's latest book Shooting Zodiac is now available in paperback!
As well as the beautiful new edition of The Sleeping Lady: The Trailside Murders Above the Golden Gate in paperback and Kindle!
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Kobo | Apple Books | Google Play Books
Two films have been based on his books: Auto Focus and Zodiac. Graysmith is portrayed in the film Zodiac by Jake Gyllenhaal.
Also narrated by the author are the audiobooks Black Fire and Zodiac Unmasked .
Graysmith's latest book Shooting Zodiac is now available in paperback!
As well as the beautiful new edition of The Sleeping Lady: The Trailside Murders Above the Golden Gate in paperback and Kindle!
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Kobo | Apple Books | Google Play Books
Two films have been based on his books: Auto Focus and Zodiac. Graysmith is portrayed in the film Zodiac by Jake Gyllenhaal.
Also narrated by the author are the audiobooks Black Fire and Zodiac Unmasked .
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 2, 2022
The 2007 movie about the Zodiac serial killer who terrorized Northern California in the ‘60s and ‘70s was based on the 1986 biography Zodiac by Robert Graysmith. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Graysmith and follows his personal investigation into the Zodiac killer.
Graysmith’s new release, Shooting Zodiac, is all about what went into making the movie and the pains and lengths director David Fincher, producer Brad Fischer, and screenwriter James Vanderbilt went to to get the movie made. From how they fact-checked and verified everything that went into the movie by personally interviewing everyone involved in the case to fighting with the movie studios to get this movie made exactly the way they wanted. All to finally reveal to the world the true identity of the Zodiac killer.
Although I personally prefer fiction over non-fiction, I really enjoyed this book. It combined the murder mystery component that I crave (but it’s all real!) with the full behind-the-scenes Hollywood movie-making experience that only insiders know about. So interesting!
Whether you decide to watch the very excellent movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey, Jr., before or after you read the book, I definitely suggest watching it. I mean, you become so invested in this movie just by reading this book, you really have to see the end result. I was going to wait until after but I really wasn’t that familiar with this case and I kept stopping to Google things, since it was kind of written under the assumption that you were familiar with this very old case. So watching the movie first helped me fill in some of the blanks as the story unfolded. On the other hand, watching the movie after reading the book would be just the icing on the cake—seeing the final product after doing all that work. You really can’t go wrong either way.
Graysmith’s new release, Shooting Zodiac, is all about what went into making the movie and the pains and lengths director David Fincher, producer Brad Fischer, and screenwriter James Vanderbilt went to to get the movie made. From how they fact-checked and verified everything that went into the movie by personally interviewing everyone involved in the case to fighting with the movie studios to get this movie made exactly the way they wanted. All to finally reveal to the world the true identity of the Zodiac killer.
Although I personally prefer fiction over non-fiction, I really enjoyed this book. It combined the murder mystery component that I crave (but it’s all real!) with the full behind-the-scenes Hollywood movie-making experience that only insiders know about. So interesting!
Whether you decide to watch the very excellent movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey, Jr., before or after you read the book, I definitely suggest watching it. I mean, you become so invested in this movie just by reading this book, you really have to see the end result. I was going to wait until after but I really wasn’t that familiar with this case and I kept stopping to Google things, since it was kind of written under the assumption that you were familiar with this very old case. So watching the movie first helped me fill in some of the blanks as the story unfolded. On the other hand, watching the movie after reading the book would be just the icing on the cake—seeing the final product after doing all that work. You really can’t go wrong either way.
April 6, 2022
This is the PERFECT companion piece to the movie Zodiac! Loved hearing all the detail that went into making such an incredible movie get greenlit!!!
January 25, 2022
With a title like Shooting Zodiac I expected a straightforward behind the scenes account of the making of David Fincher’s Zodiac, but it’s more than that. If anything, it’s almost a follow up to Graysmith’s previous Zodiac books, with the filmmakers taking over his role as Zodiac sleuths as they attempt to first corroborate the author’s theories and then green light a realistic Zodiac adaptation that rivals journalistic thrillers like All The President's Men.
September 3, 2021
I wasn’t completely sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed how personable this book is. It’s clear Graysmith has an admiration for the filmmakers and the original investigators. I really enjoyed getting to see George Bawart on this level, and Fincher, Fischer, and Vanderbilt’s approach to making the film the right way.
I think this is the smoothest read of Graysmith’s books so far.
I think this is the smoothest read of Graysmith’s books so far.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews