Ed Zwick (Love and Other Drugs) has signed on to direct Pawn Sacrifice, a biopic about chess master Bobby Fischer. Tobey Maguire is attached to star and produce. The current draft of the script by Steven Knight (Eastern Promises) focuses on Fischer’s rise to prominence in the 1960s, leading up to his famous match against Soviet chess player Boris Spassky in 1972.
THR reports that Zwick’s schedule opened up once The Great Wall—a supernatural epic that Zwick is attached to direct—was delayed as Legendary Pictures seeks funding. That leaves Zwick free to step in for David Fincher, who was previously linked to direct. I imagine Zwick’s Pawn Sacrifice will be very different than Fincher’s Pawn Sacrifice—the directors are on the opposite ends of the cinematic emotion spectrum. Zwick is the safer choice, but I think the story is inherently interest, and Zwick is certainly competent enough to tap into that potential.
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This film reminds me of The Social Network in terms of topic and how it would best be handled (who would’ve thought the creation of facebook could be dramatically compelling), which is why Fincher would’ve been so good here. Zwick is one of my favorite directors (Glory, Last Samurai, Blood Diamond, The Siege), but I don’t know if his style is best suited for this. I’m sure it’ll still be good…maybe just not quite AS good as it could’ve been.