With the recent reports that Sony had nabbed some book rights to have in the chamber in case David Fincher became unencumbered by his 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea project with Disney, a great deal of doubt was thrown on the latter project. The suggestion was that the big D was quickly reaching “shit or get off the pot” time. A report from THR today suggests that D is indeed prepared to shit all over Fincher and 20,000 Leagues, a conclusion drawn from the studio finalizing production incentive deals in Australia today. They also note that Brad Pitt is no longer circling the project, leaving us with no leading man.

Just yesterday marked the release of Fincher’s “Suit & Tie” music video for Justin Timberlake, reminding of us of his music video roots, and about now I’d imagine the big bell curve of initial House Of Cards viewers are getting through the series finale. The man’s ability to craft moody images that people eat up are seemingly at their height, so I remain intrigued by how that will translate to a massive blockbuster adventure film.

Lest we forget, Fincher’s last big-budget action adventure film was also his first and worst: Alien³. Granted, that production was compromised six ways from Sunday, and the director hates that movie even more than you do. There’s also now two decades between there and here, and a career’s worth of great work. So with that, things come full circle.