The Zodiac Fervor Begins Again

With David Fincher’s movie ZODIAC, based on Robert Graysmith’s book, due in theaters this weekend, the publicity machine is in overdrive. The Washington Post talks to the author about his editorial cartooning, how his obsession with the Zodiac began and other truths:

Graysmith’s first marriage ended before his obsession with Zodiac

began; the case helped end his second. Graysmith remembers typing his

first drafts on the backs of flea-market circulars to save money (for

alimony and child support). Daughter Margot recalls gathering 350

pennies to go to the movies with her dad. Margot and two sons by his

first wife are close. His ex-wife, who watched him lose it during the

Zodiac case, remains a friend and attended the film premiere in San

Francisco.

The “Zodiac” director David Fincher (“Fight Club” and

“Se7en” ) recalls sending a copy of the script to Graysmith, “who read

it, and said, ‘Wow, so that’s why my wife left me.’ He could finally

see himself as he was.” Says Fincher, “I don’t know if the Zodiac was

made for Robert or Robert was made for the Zodiac.”

Graysmith still believes that Arthur Leigh Allen was the culprit, but DNA tests effectively ruled Allen out a few years ago. And it looks as if a major story may break soon thanks to discovery in the SF Chronicle’s case files.