The Killer arrives in select theaters today before its streaming debut on November 10, and Netflix has shared a new trailer for David Fincher's highly-anticipated adaptation of the French graphic novel of the same name from writer Alexis Nolent and artist by Luc Jacamon.
Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Shame) stars as the unnamed assassin of the title, who becomes embroiled in an international manhunt after a hit goes wrong.
This new teaser really hammers home the fact that this hitman lives by a strict mantra ("Stick to your plan. Trust no-one. Forbid empathy. Anticipate, don’t improvise"), and has built his reputation for being the best at what he does because he simply "does not give a f*ck."
Our ruthless protagonist also introduces music into his routine, and in a recent interview with GQ, Fincher explained why he went with The Smiths as his main character's tunes of choice.
"I always knew that I wanted to use 'How Soon is Now?' because I love the guitar. And I love the idea of somebody going, 'what Johnny Marr is doing here is my meditation.' I just thought it was amusing. But originally, we had an entire soundtrack that was Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, full-on pre-goth. It was really cool, and really interesting, but you kept asking yourself, 'Is he a music critic?'
But as we went along, you would find out that a song's publishing was split amongst two or three different parties who are no longer speaking, and blah, blah, blah. And every time a song would drop out, we would replace it with The Smiths. 'This Charming Man,' and so on. Every single time it was The Smiths, it was both sardonic, and raw. Trent [Reznor] was a big part of this: we kept thinking, what do we want to say about this guy?"
The movie had its world premiere at this year’s Venice International Film Festival, and the review embargo lifted shortly after. Despite some critics expressing disappointment with the Se7en director's latest, the majority have praised it as an intense, nail-biting thriller (it sits at a not-too-shabby 87% on Rotten Tomatoes).
Check out the trailer below, and let us know what you think in the comments section.
The official synopsis reads: "After a fateful near-miss an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal."
Along with Fassbender, The Killer stars Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard, Sophie Charlotte, and Tilda Swinton. Kerry O’Malley, Sala Baker, Emiliano Pernía, and Gabriel Polanco also star. Jack Kesy and Monique Granderton round out the main cast.