Fight Club - wikipedia Fight Club This article is about the film. For the novel the film is based on, see Fight Club ( novel ). For other uses, see Fight Club ( disambiguation ). Fight Club Theatrical release poster Directed by David Fincher Produced by Art Linson Ceán Chaffin Ross Grayson Bell Screenplay by Jim Uhls Based on Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk Starring Brad Pitt Edward Norton Helena Bonham Carter Meat Loaf Aday Jared Leto Music by The Dust Brothers Cinematography Jeff Cronenweth Edited by James Haygood Production company Fox 2000 Pictures Regency Enterprises Linson Films Distributed by 20th Century Fox Release date September 10, 1999 ( 1999 - 09 - 10 ) ( Venice ) October 15, 1999 ( 1999 - 10 - 15 ) ( United States ) November 11, 1999 ( 1999 - 11 - 11 ) ( Germany ) Running time 139 minutes Country United States Germany Language English Budget $63 million Box office $100.9 million Fight Club is a 1999 American film based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. The film was directed by David Fincher, and stars Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. Norton plays the unnamed protagonist, referred to as the narrator, who is discontented with his white - collar job. He forms a `` fight club '' with soap maker Tyler Durden, played by Pitt, and they are joined by men who also want to fight recreationally. The narrator becomes embroiled in a relationship with Durden and a dissolute woman, Marla Singer, played by Bonham Carter. Palahniuk 's novel was optioned by 20th Century Fox producer Laura Ziskin, who hired Jim Uhls to write the film adaptation. Fincher was one of four directors the producers considered, and was selected because of his enthusiasm for the film. Fincher developed the script with Uhls and sought screenwriting advice from the cast and others in the film industry. The director and the cast compared the film to Rebel Without a Cause ( 1955 ) and The Graduate ( 1967 ). They said its theme was the conflict between a generation of young people and the value system of advertising. The director copied the homoerotic overtones from Palahniuk 's novel to make audiences uncomfortable and keep them from anticipating the twist ending. Studio executives did not like the film and restructured Fincher 's intended marketing campaign to try to reduce anticipated losses. Fight Club failed to meet the studio 's expectations at the box office and initially received polarizing reactions from critics, becoming one of the most controversial and talked - about films of the year. Critics praised the acting, directing, themes and messages but debated the explicit violence and moral ambiguity. Over time, however, reception towards the film has become largely positive with critics and audiences, finding critical and commercial success with its DVD release, which established Fight Club as a cult film. It is now regarded by many as one of the greatest films of the 1990s. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Themes 4 Production 4.1 Development 4.2 Casting 4.3 Writing 4.4 Filming 4.5 Cinematography 4.6 Visual effects 4.7 Musical score 5 Release 5.1 Marketing 5.2 Theatrical run 5.3 Home media 6 Critical reception 7 Cultural impact 7.1 American Film Institute nominations 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 External links Plot The unnamed Narrator is a traveling automobile recall specialist who suffers from insomnia. When he is unsuccessful at receiving medical assistance for it, the admonishing doctor suggests he realize his relatively small amount of suffering by visiting a support group for testicular cancer victims. The group assumes that he, too, is affected like they are, and he spontaneously weeps into the nurturing arms of another man, finding a freedom from the catharsis that relieves his insomnia. He decides to participate in support groups of various kinds, always allowing the groups to assume that he suffers what they do. However, he begins to notice another impostor, Marla Singer, whose presence reminds him that he is attending these groups dishonestly, and this disturbs his bliss. The two negotiate to avoid their attending the same groups, but, before going their separate ways, Marla gives him her phone number. On a flight home from a business trip, the Narrator meets Tyler Durden, a soap salesman with whom he begins to converse after noticing the two share the same kind of briefcase. After the flight, the Narrator returns home to find that his apartment has been destroyed by an explosion. With no one else to contact, he calls Tyler, and they meet at a bar. After a conversation about consumerism, outside the bar, Tyler chastises the Narrator for his timidity about needing a place to stay. Tyler requests that the Narrator hit him, which leads the two to engage in a fistfight. The Narrator moves into Tyler 's home, a large dilapidated house in an industrial area of their city. They have further fights outside the bar on subsequent nights, and these fights attract growing crowds of men. The fighting eventually moves to the bar 's basement where the men form a club ( `` Fight Club '' ) which routinely meets only to provide an opportunity for the men to fight recreationally. Marla overdoses on pills and telephones the Narrator for help ; he eventually ignores her, leaving his phone receiver without disconnecting. Tyler notices the phone soon after, talks to her and goes to her apartment to save her. Tyler and Marla become sexually involved. He warns the Narrator never to talk to Marla about him. More fight clubs form across the country and, under Tyler 's leadership ( and without the Narrator 's knowledge ), they become an anti-materialist and anti-corporate organization, Project Mayhem, with many of the former local Fight Club members moving into the dilapidated house and improving it. The Narrator complains to Tyler about Tyler excluding him from the newer manifestation of the Fight Club organization Project Mayhem. Soon after, Tyler leaves the house without notice. When a member of Project Mayhem is killed by the police during a botched sabotage operation, the Narrator tries to shut down the project. Seeking Tyler, he follows evidence of Tyler 's national travels. In one city, a Project Mayhem member greets the Narrator as Tyler Durden. The Narrator calls Marla from his hotel room and discovers that Marla also believes him to be Tyler. Tyler suddenly appears in his hotel room, and reveals that they are dissociated personalities in the same body. When the Narrator has believed himself to be asleep, Tyler has been controlling his body and traveling to different locations. The Narrator blacks out after the conversation, and when he awakes, he uncovers Tyler 's plans to erase debt by destroying buildings that contain credit card companies ' records. The Narrator tries to warn the police, but he finds that these officers are members of the Project. He attempts to disarm the explosives in a building, but Tyler subdues him and moves him to the uppermost floor. Held at gunpoint by Tyler, the Narrator realizes that, in sharing the same body with Tyler, he himself is actually in control holding `` Tyler 's '' gun. The Narrator fires it into his own mouth, shooting through the cheek without killing himself. Tyler collapses with an exit wound to the back of his head, and the Narrator stops mentally projecting him. Afterward, Project Mayhem members bring a kidnapped Marla to him, believing him to be Tyler, and leave them alone. Holding hands, the Narrator and Marla watch as the explosives detonate, collapsing many buildings around them. Cast Actor Role Description Brad Pitt Tyler Durden A soap salesman that the Narrator meets on one of his business trips Edward Norton The Narrator A traveling automobile recall specialist who suffers from insomnia Helena Bonham Carter Marla Singer A woman who the Narrator, who goes to support groups for catharsis, notices also faking symptoms Meat Loaf Robert Paulson A man who the Narrator meets at the testicular cancer support group Jared Leto Angel Face A man who Tyler Durden recruits into fight club and includes for missions for Project Mayhem Themes For academic interpretations of the film, see Interpretations of Fight Club. We 're designed to be hunters and we 're in a society of shopping. There 's nothing to kill anymore, there 's nothing to fight, nothing to overcome, nothing to explore. In that societal emasculation this everyman ( the Narrator ) is created. -- David Fincher Fincher said Fight Club was a coming of age film, like the 1967 film The Graduate but for people in their 30s. Fincher described the Narrator as an `` everyman '' ; the character is identified in the script as `` Jack '', but left unnamed in the film. Fincher outlined the Narrator 's background : `` He 's tried to do everything he was taught to do, tried to fit into the world by becoming the thing he is n't. '' The Narrator can not find happiness, so he travels on a path to enlightenment in which he must `` kill '' his parents, his god, and his teacher. At the start of the film, he has `` killed off '' his parents. With Tyler Durden, he kills his god by doing things they are not supposed to do. To complete the process of maturing, the Narrator has to `` kill off '' his teacher, Tyler Durden. The character is a 1990s inverse of The Graduate archetype : `` a guy who does not have a world of possibilities in front of him, he has no possibilities, he literally can not imagine a way to change his life. '' He is confused and enraged, so he responds to his environment by creating Tyler Durden, a Nietzschean Übermensch, in his mind. While Tyler is who the Narrator would want to be, he is not empathetic and does not help the Narrator face decisions in his life `` that are complicated and have moral and ethical implications ''. Fincher explained, `` ( Tyler ) can deal with the concepts of our lives in an idealistic fashion, but it does n't have anything to do with the compromises of real life as modern man knows it. Which is : You 're not really necessary to a lot of what 's going on. It 's built, it just needs to run now. '' While studio executives worried that Fight Club was going to be `` sinister and seditious '', Fincher sought to make it `` funny and seditious '' by including humor to temper the sinister element. Uhls described the film as a `` romantic comedy '', explaining, `` It has to do with the characters ' attitudes toward a healthy relationship, which is a lot of behavior which seems unhealthy and harsh to each other, but in fact does work for them -- because both characters are out on the edge psychologically. '' The Narrator seeks intimacy, but he avoids it with Marla Singer, seeing too much of himself in her. While Marla is a seductive and negativist prospect for the Narrator, he instead embraces the novelty and excitement that comes with befriending Tyler Durden. The Narrator is comfortable being personally connected to Tyler Durden, but he becomes jealous when Tyler becomes sexually involved with Marla. When the Narrator argues with Tyler about their friendship, Tyler tells him that being friends is secondary to pursuing the philosophy they have been exploring. Tyler also suggests doing something about Marla, implying that she is a risk to be removed. When Tyler says this, the Narrator realizes that his desires should have been focused on Marla and begins to diverge from Tyler 's path. We decided early on that I would start to starve myself as the film went on, while ( Brad Pitt ) would lift and go to tanning beds ; he would become more and more idealized as I wasted away. -- Edward Norton The unreliable narrator is not immediately aware that Tyler Durden originated in him and is being mentally projected. He also mistakenly promotes the fight clubs as a way to feel powerful, though the Narrator 's physical condition worsens while Tyler Durden 's appearance improves. While Tyler desires `` real experiences '' of actual fights like the Narrator at first, he manifests a nihilistic attitude of rejecting and destroying institutions and value systems. His impulsive nature, representing the id, conveys an attitude that is seductive and liberating to the Narrator and the members of Project Mayhem. Tyler 's initiatives and methods become dehumanizing ; he orders around the members of Project Mayhem with a megaphone similar to camp directors at Chinese re-education camps. The Narrator pulls back from Tyler and in the end, he arrives at a middle ground between his two conflicting selves. Fight Club examines Generation X angst as ' `` the middle children of history ''. Norton said, Fight Club examines the value conflicts of Generation X, as the first generation raised on television `` having its value system largely dictated to it by advertising culture '', including values such as one could achieve `` spiritual happiness through home furnishing '', later to wake up to the emptiness of this `` received value system. '' Pitt said, `` Fight Club is a metaphor for the need to push through the walls we put around ourselves and just go for it, so for the first time we can experience the pain. '' Fight Club also parallels the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause ; both probe the frustrations of the people that live in the system. The characters, having undergone societal emasculation, are reduced to `` a generation of spectators ''. A culture of advertising defines society 's `` external signifiers of happiness '', causing an unnecessary chase for material goods that replaces the more essential pursuit of spiritual happiness. The film references Gucci, Calvin Klein, and the Volkswagen New Beetle. Norton said of the Beetle, `` We smash it... because it seemed like the classic example of a Baby Boomer generation marketing plan that sold culture back to us. '' His character also walks through his apartment while visual effects identify his many IKEA possessions. Fincher described the Narrator 's immersion, `` It was just the idea of living in this fraudulent idea of happiness. '' Pitt explained the dissonance, `` I think there 's a self - defense mechanism that keeps my generation from having any real honest connection or commitment with our true feelings. We 're rooting for ball teams, but we 're not getting in there to play. We 're so concerned with failure and success -- like these two things are all that 's going to sum you up at the end. '' The violence of the fight clubs serves not to promote or glorify physical combat, but for participants to experience feeling in a society where they are otherwise numb. The fights tangibly represent a resistance to the impulse to be `` cocooned '' in society. Norton believed that the fighting between the men strips away the `` fear of pain '' and `` the reliance on material signifiers of their self - worth '', leaving them to experience something valuable. When the fights evolve into revolutionary violence, the film only half - accepts the revolutionary dialectic by Tyler Durden ; the Narrator pulls back and rejects Durden 's ideas. Fight Club purposely shapes an ambiguous message, the interpretation of which is left to the audience. Fincher elaborated, `` I love this idea that you can have fascism without offering any direction or solution. Is n't the point of fascism to say, ' This is the way we should be going ' ? But this movie could n't be further from offering any kind of solution. '' Production Development The novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk was published in 1996. Before its publication, a 20th Century Fox book scout sent a galley proof of the novel to creative executive Kevin McCormick. The executive assigned a studio reader to review the proof as a candidate for a film adaptation, but the reader discouraged it. McCormick then forwarded the proof to producers Lawrence Bender and Art Linson, who also rejected it. Producers Josh Donen and Ross Bell saw potential and expressed interest. They arranged unpaid screen readings with actors to determine the script 's length, and an initial reading lasted six hours. The producers cut out sections to reduce the running time, and they used the shorter script to record its dialogue. Bell sent the recording to Laura Ziskin, head of the division Fox 2000, who listened to the tape and purchased the rights to Fight Club from Palahniuk for $10,000. Ziskin initially considered hiring Buck Henry to write the adaptation, finding Fight Club similar to the 1967 film The Graduate, which Henry had adapted. When a new screenwriter, Jim Uhls, lobbied Donen and Bell for the job, the producers chose him over Henry. Bell contacted four directors to direct the film. He considered Peter Jackson the best choice, but Jackson was too busy filming the 1996 film The Frighteners in New Zealand. Bryan Singer received the book but did not read it. Danny Boyle met with Bell and read the book, but he pursued another film. David Fincher, who had read Fight Club and had tried to buy the rights himself, talked with Ziskin about directing the film. He hesitated to accept the assignment with 20th Century Fox at first because he had an unpleasant experience directing the 1992 film Alien 3 for the studio. To repair his relationship with the studio, he met with Ziskin and studio head Bill Mechanic. In August 1997, 20th Century Fox announced that Fincher would direct the film adaptation of Fight Club. Casting Producer Ross Bell met with actor Russell Crowe to discuss his candidacy for the role of Tyler Durden. Producer Art Linson, who joined the project late, met with Pitt regarding the same role. Linson was the senior producer of the two, so the studio sought to cast Pitt instead of Crowe. Pitt was looking for a new film after the failure ( in the US market ) of his 1998 film Meet Joe Black, and the studio believed Fight Club would be more commercially successful with a major star. The studio signed Pitt and offered him a US $17.5 million salary. For the role of the unnamed Narrator, the studio desired a `` sexier marquee name '' like Matt Damon to increase the film 's commercial prospects ; it also considered Sean Penn. Fincher instead considered Norton a candidate for the role, based on the actor 's performance in the 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt. Other studios were approaching Norton for leading roles in developing films like The Talented Mr. Ripley and Man on the Moon. The actor was cast in Runaway Jury, but the film did not reach production. 20th Century Fox offered Norton a $2.5 million salary to attract him to Fight Club. Norton could not accept the offer immediately because he still owed Paramount Pictures a film ; he had signed a contractual obligation with Paramount to appear in one of the studio 's future films for a smaller salary ( Norton later satisfied the obligation with his role in the 2003 film The Italian Job ). In January 1998, 20th Century Fox announced that Pitt and Norton were cast in the film. The actors prepared for their roles by taking lessons in boxing, taekwondo, grappling, and soapmaking. Pitt voluntarily visited a dentist to have pieces of his front teeth chipped off so his character would not have perfect teeth. The pieces were restored after filming concluded. Fincher 's first choice for the role of Marla Singer was Janeane Garofalo, who objected to the film 's sexual content. The filmmakers considered Courtney Love and Winona Ryder as early candidates. The studio wanted to cast Reese Witherspoon, but Fincher objected that she was too young for the role. He chose to cast Bonham Carter based on her performance in the 1997 film The Wings of the Dove. Writing Uhls started working on an early draft of the adapted screenplay, which excluded a voice - over because the industry perceived at the time that the technique was `` hackneyed and trite ''. When Fincher joined the film, he thought that the film should have a voice - over, believing that the film 's humor came from the Narrator 's voice. The director described the film without a voice - over as seemingly `` sad and pathetic ''. Fincher and Uhls revised the script for six to seven months and by 1997 had a third draft that reordered the story and left out several major elements. When Pitt was cast, he was concerned that his character, Tyler Durden, was too one - dimensional. Fincher sought the advice of writer - director Cameron Crowe, who suggested giving the character more ambiguity. Fincher also hired screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker for assistance. The director invited Pitt and Norton to help revise the script, and the group drafted five revisions in the course of a year. Palahniuk praised the faithful film adaptation of his novel and applauded how the film 's plot was more streamlined than the book 's. Palahniuk recalled how the writers debated if film audiences would believe the plot twist from the novel. Fincher supported including the twist, arguing, `` If they accept everything up to this point, they 'll accept the plot twist. If they 're still in the theater, they 'll stay with it. '' Palahniuk 's novel also contained homoerotic overtones, which the director included in the film to make audiences uncomfortable and accentuate the surprise of the film 's twists. The bathroom scene where Tyler Durden bathes next to the Narrator is an example of the overtones ; the line, `` I 'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need, '' was meant to suggest personal responsibility rather than homosexuality. Another example is the scene at the beginning of the film in which Tyler Durden puts a gun barrel down the Narrator 's mouth. The Narrator finds redemption at the end of the film by rejecting Tyler Durden 's dialectic, a path that diverged from the novel 's ending in which the Narrator is placed in a mental institution. Norton drew parallels between redemption in the film and redemption in The Graduate, indicating that the protagonists of both films find a middle ground between two divisions of self. Fincher considered the novel too infatuated with Tyler Durden and changed the ending to move away from him : `` I wanted people to love Tyler, but I also wanted them to be OK with his vanquishing. '' Filming Studio executives Mechanic and Ziskin planned an initial budget of US $23 million to finance the film, but by the start of production, the budget was increased to $50 million. Half was paid by New Regency, but during filming, the projected budget escalated to US $67 million. New Regency 's head and Fight Club executive producer Arnon Milchan petitioned Fincher to reduce costs by at least US $5 million. The director refused, so Milchan threatened Mechanic that New Regency would withdraw financing. Mechanic sought to restore Milchan 's support by sending him tapes of dailies from Fight Club. After seeing three weeks of filming, Milchan reinstated New Regency 's financial backing. The final production budget was $63 million. The fight scenes were heavily choreographed, but the actors were required to `` go full out '' to capture realistic effects like having the wind knocked out of them. Makeup artist Julie Pearce, who worked for the director on the 1997 film The Game, studied mixed martial arts and pay - per - view boxing to portray the fighters accurately. She designed an extra 's ear to have cartilage missing, citing as inspiration the boxing match in which Mike Tyson bit off part of Evander Holyfield 's ear. Makeup artists devised two methods to create sweat on cue : spraying mineral water over a coat of Vaseline, and using the unadulterated water for `` wet sweat ''. Meat Loaf, who plays a member of the fight club who has `` bitch tits '', wore a 90 - pound ( 40 kg ) fat harness that gave him large breasts for the role. He also wore eight - inch ( 20 cm ) lifts in his scenes with Norton to be taller than him. Filming lasted 138 days, during which Fincher shot more than 1,500 rolls of film, three times the average for a Hollywood film. The locations were in and around Los Angeles, including most notably : The Promenade Towers, Melrose Avenue, St. Brendan 's Catholic Church, and Michael Heizer 's public art sculpture `` North, South East, West ''. Sets were also built in Century City. Production designer Alex McDowell constructed more than 70 sets. The exterior of Tyler Durden 's house was built in Wilmington, California, while the interior was built on a sound stage at the studio 's location. The interior was given a decayed look to illustrate the deconstructed world of the characters. Marla Singer 's apartment was based on photographs of apartments in downtown LA. Overall production included 300 scenes, 200 locations, and complex special effects. Fincher compared Fight Club to his subsequent, less complex film Panic Room : `` I felt like I was spending all my time watching trucks being loaded and unloaded so I could shoot three lines of dialogue. There was far too much transportation going on. '' Cinematography Fincher used the Super 35 format to film Fight Club since it gave him maximum flexibility in composing shots. He hired Jeff Cronenweth as cinematographer ; Cronenweth 's father Jordan Cronenweth was the cinematographer who worked for Fincher on the 1992 film Alien 3 but left midway through its production due to Parkinson 's disease. Fincher explored visual styles in his previous films Seven and The Game, and he and Cronenweth drew elements from these styles for Fight Club. They applied a lurid style, choosing to make people `` sort of shiny ''. The appearance of the Narrator 's scenes without Tyler Durden were bland and realistic. The scenes with Tyler were described by Fincher as `` more hyper - real in a torn - down, deconstructed sense -- a visual metaphor of what ( the Narrator is ) heading into ''. The filmmakers used heavily desaturated colors in the costuming, makeup, and art direction. Bonham Carter wore opalescent makeup to portray her romantic nihilistic character with a `` smack - fiend patina ''. Fincher and Cronenweth drew influences from the 1973 film American Graffiti, which applied a mundane look to nighttime exteriors while simultaneously including a variety of colors. The crew took advantage of both natural and practical light at filming locations. The director sought various approaches to the lighting setups, for example choosing several urban locations for the city lights ' effects on the shots ' backgrounds. He and the crew also embraced fluorescent lighting at other practical locations to maintain an element of reality and to light the prostheses depicting the characters ' injuries. On the other hand, Fincher also ensured that scenes were not so strongly lit so the characters ' eyes were less visible, citing cinematographer Gordon Willis ' technique as the influence. Fight Club was filmed mostly at night and Fincher purposely filmed the daytime shots in shadowed locations. The crew equipped the bar 's basement with inexpensive work lamps to create a background glow. Fincher avoided stylish camerawork when filming early fight scenes in the basement and instead placed the camera in a fixed position. In later fight scenes, Fincher moved the camera from the viewpoint of a distant observer to that of the fighter. The scenes with Tyler Durden were staged to conceal that the character was a mental projection of the unnamed Narrator. The character was not filmed in two shots with a group of people, nor was he shown in any over the shoulder shots in scenes where Tyler gives the Narrator specific ideas to manipulate him. In scenes before the Narrator meets Tyler, the filmmakers inserted Tyler 's presence in single frames for subliminal effect. Tyler appears in the background and out of focus, like a `` little devil on the shoulder ''. Fincher explained the subliminal frames : `` Our hero is creating Tyler Durden in his own mind, so at this point he exists only on the periphery of the Narrator 's consciousness. '' While Cronenweth generally rated and exposed the Kodak film stock normally on Fight Club, several other techniques were applied to change its appearance. Flashing was implemented on much of the exterior night photography, the contrast was stretched to be purposely ugly, the print was adjusted to be underexposed, Technicolor 's ENR silver retention was used on a select number of prints to increase the density of the film 's blacks, and high - contrast print stocks were chosen to create a `` stepped - on '' look on the print with a dirty patina. Visual effects Fincher hired visual effects supervisor Kevin Tod Haug, who worked for him on The Game, to create visual effects for Fight Club. Haug assigned the visual effects artists and experts to different facilities that each addressed different types of visual effects : CG modeling, animation, compositing, and scanning. Haug explained, `` We selected the best people for each aspect of the effects work, then coordinated their efforts. In this way, we never had to play to a facility 's weakness. '' Fincher visualized the Narrator 's perspective through a `` mind 's eye '' view and structured a myopic framework for the film audiences. Fincher also used previsualized footage of challenging main - unit and visual effects shots as a problem - solving tool to avoid making mistakes during the actual filming. The opening scene in Fight Club that represents a brain 's neural network in which the thought processes are initiated by the Narrator 's fear impulse. The network was mapped using an L - system and drawn out by a medical illustrator. The film 's title sequence is a 90 - second visual effects composition that depicts the inside of the Narrator 's brain at a microscopic level ; the camera pulls back to the outside, starting at his fear center and following the thought processes initiated by his fear impulse. The sequence, designed in part by Fincher, was budgeted separately from the rest of the film at first, but the sequence was awarded by the studio in January 1999. Fincher hired Digital Domain and its visual effects supervisor Kevin Mack, who won an Academy Award for Visual Effects for the 1998 film What Dreams May Come, for the sequence. The company mapped the computer - generated brain using an L - system, and the design was detailed using renderings by medical illustrator Katherine Jones. The pullback sequence from within the brain to the outside of the skull included neurons, action potentials, and a hair follicle. Haug explained the artistic license that Fincher took with the shot, `` While he wanted to keep the brain passage looking like electron microscope photography, that look had to be coupled with the feel of a night dive -- wet, scary, and with a low depth of field. '' The shallow depth of field was accomplished with the ray tracing process. Other visual effects include an early scene in which the camera flashes past city streets to survey Project Mayhem 's destructive equipment lying in underground parking lots ; the sequence was a three - dimensional composition of nearly 100 photographs of Los Angeles and Century City by photographer Michael Douglas Middleton. The final scene of the demolition of the credit card office buildings was designed by Richard Baily of Image Savant ; Baily worked on the scene for over fourteen months. Midway through the film, Tyler Durden points out the cue mark -- nicknamed `` cigarette burn '' in the film -- to the audience. The scene represents a turning point that foreshadows the coming rupture and inversion of the `` fairly subjective reality '' that existed earlier in the film. The director explained, `` Suddenly it 's as though the projectionist missed the changeover, the viewers have to start looking at the movie in a whole new way. '' Musical score Fincher was concerned that bands experienced in writing film scores would be unable to tie the movie 's themes together, so he sought a band which had never recorded for film. He pursued Radiohead, but ultimately chose the breakbeat producing duo Dust Brothers to score the film. The duo created a post-modern score that included drum loops, electronic scratches, and computerized samples. Dust Brothers performer Michael Simpson explained the setup : `` Fincher wanted to break new ground with everything about the movie, and a nontraditional score helped achieve that. '' The film 's climax and end credits feature the song `` Where Is My Mind ? '' by the Pixies. Release Marketing Filming concluded in December 1998, and Fincher edited the footage in early 1999 to prepare Fight Club for a screening with senior executives. They did not receive the film positively and were concerned that there would not be an audience for the film. Executive producer Art Linson, who supported the film, recalled the response : `` So many incidences of Fight Club were alarming, no group of executives could narrow them down. '' Nevertheless, Fight Club was originally slated to be released in July 1999 but was later changed to August 6, 1999. The studio further delayed the film 's release, this time to autumn, citing a crowded summer schedule and a hurried post-production process. Outsiders attributed the delays to the Columbine High School massacre earlier in the year. Marketing executives at 20th Century Fox faced difficulties in marketing Fight Club and at one point considered marketing it as an art film. They considered that the film was primarily geared toward male audiences because of its violence and believed that not even Pitt would attract female filmgoers. Research testing showed that the film appealed to teenagers. Fincher refused to let the posters and trailers focus on Pitt and encouraged the studio to hire the advertising firm Wieden + Kennedy to devise a marketing plan. The firm proposed a bar of pink soap with the title `` Fight Club '' embossed on it as the film 's main marketing image ; the proposal was considered `` a bad joke '' by Fox executives. Fincher also released two early trailers in the form of fake public service announcements presented by Pitt and Norton ; the studio did not think the trailers marketed the film appropriately. Instead, the studio financed a $20 million large - scale campaign to provide a press junket, posters, billboards, and trailers for TV that highlighted the film 's fight scenes. The studio advertised Fight Club on cable during World Wrestling Entertainment broadcasts, which Fincher protested, believing that the placement created the wrong context for the film. Linson believed that the `` ill - conceived one - dimensional '' marketing by marketing executive Robert Harper largely contributed to Fight Club 's lukewarm box office performance in the United States. Theatrical run The studio held Fight Club 's world premiere at the 56th Venice International Film Festival on September 10, 1999. For the American theatrical release, the studio hired the National Research Group to test screen the film ; the group predicted the film would gross between US $13 million and US $15 million in its opening weekend. Fight Club opened commercially in the United States and Canada on October 15, 1999 and earned US $11,035,485 in 1,963 theaters over the opening weekend. The film ranked first at the weekend box office, defeating Double Jeopardy and The Story of Us, a fellow weekend opener. The gender mix of audiences for Fight Club, argued to be `` the ultimate anti-date flick '', was 61 % male and 39 % female ; 58 % of audiences were below the age of 21. Despite the film 's top placement, its opening gross fell short of the studio 's expectations. Over the second weekend, Fight Club dropped 42.6 % in revenue, earning US $6,335,870. Against its production budget of US $63 million, the film grossed US $37 million from its theatrical run in the United States and Canada and earned US $100.9 million in theaters worldwide. The underwhelming North American performance of Fight Club soured the relationship between 20th Century Fox 's studio head Bill Mechanic and media executive Rupert Murdoch, which contributed to Mechanic 's resignation in June 2000. The British Board of Film Classification reviewed Fight Club for its November 12, 1999 release in the United Kingdom and removed two scenes involving `` an indulgence in the excitement of beating a ( defenseless ) man 's face into a pulp ''. The board assigned the film an 18 certificate, limiting the release to adult - only audiences in the UK. The BBFC did not censor any further, considering and dismissing claims that Fight Club contained `` dangerously instructive information '' and could `` encourage anti-social ( behavior ) ''. The board decided, `` The film as a whole is -- quite clearly -- critical and sharply parodic of the amateur fascism which in part it portrays. Its central theme of male machismo ( and the anti-social behaviour that flows from it ) is emphatically rejected by the central character in the concluding reels. '' The scenes were restored in a two - disc DVD edition released in the UK in March 2007. Home media Fincher supervised the composition of the DVD packaging and was one of the first directors to participate in a film 's transition to home media. The film was released in two DVD editions. The single - disc edition included a commentary track, while the two - disc special edition included the commentary track, behind - the - scenes clips, deleted scenes, trailers, fake public service announcements, the promotional music video `` This is Your Life '', Internet spots, still galleries, cast biographies, storyboards, and publicity materials. The director worked on the DVD as a way to finish his vision for the film. Julie Markell, 20th Century Fox 's senior vice president of creative development, said the DVD packaging complemented the director 's vision : `` The film is meant to make you question. The package, by extension, tries to reflect an experience that you must experience for yourself. The more you look at it, the more you 'll get out of it. '' The studio developed the packaging for two months. The two - disc special edition DVD was packaged to look covered in brown cardboard wrapper. The title `` Fight Club '' was labeled diagonally across the front, and packaging appeared tied with twine. Markell said, `` We wanted the package to be simple on the outside, so that there would be a dichotomy between the simplicity of brown paper wrapping and the intensity and chaos of what 's inside. '' Deborah Mitchell, 20th Century Fox 's vice president of marketing, described the design : `` From a retail standpoint, ( the DVD case ) has incredible shelf - presence. '' Fight Club won the 2000 Online Film Critics Society Awards for Best DVD, Best DVD Commentary, and Best DVD Special Features. Entertainment Weekly ranked the film 's two - disc edition in first place on its 2001 list of `` The 50 Essential DVDs '', giving top ratings to the DVD 's content and technical picture - and - audio quality. When the two - disc edition went out of print, the studio re-released it in 2004 because of fans ' requests. The film sold more than 6 million copies on DVD and video within the first ten years, making it one of the largest - selling home media items in the studio 's history, in addition to grossing over $55 million in video and DVD rentals. With a weak box office performance in the United States and Canada, a better performance in other territories, and the highly successful DVD release, Fight Club generated a US $10 million profit for the studio. The Laserdisc edition was only released in Japan on May 26, 2000 and features a different cover art, as well as one of the very few Dolby EX soundtracks released on LD. The VHS edition was released on October 31, 2000, as a part of 20th Century Fox 's `` Premiere Series '' line. It includes a featurette after the film, entitled `` Behind the Brawl ''. Fight Club was released in the Blu - ray Disc format in the United States on November 17, 2009. Fox Creative chose Neuron Syndicate to design the art for the format 's packaging, and Neuron commissioned five graffiti artists to create 30 pieces of art. The art encompasses urban aesthetics found on the East Coast and West Coast of the United States as well as influences from European street art. The Blu - ray edition opens with a menu screen for the romantic comedy Never Been Kissed starring Drew Barrymore before leading into the actual Fight Club menu screen. David Fincher got permission from Barrymore to include the fake menu screen. Critical reception When Fight Club premiered at the 56th Venice International Film Festival, the film was fiercely debated by critics. A newspaper reported, `` Many loved and hated it in equal measures. '' Some critics expressed concern that the film would incite copycat behavior, such as that seen after A Clockwork Orange debuted in Britain nearly three decades previously. Upon the film 's theatrical release, The Times reported the reaction : `` It touched a nerve in the male psyche that was debated in newspapers across the world. '' Although the film 's makers called Fight Club `` an accurate portrayal of men in the 1990s, '' some critics called it `` irresponsible and appalling ''. Writing for the Australian newspaper, Christopher Goodwin stated : `` Fight Club is shaping up to be the most contentious mainstream Hollywood meditation on violence since Stanley Kubrick 's A Clockwork Orange. '' Janet Maslin, reviewing for The New York Times, praised Fincher 's direction and editing of the film. She wrote that Fight Club carried a message of `` contemporary manhood '', and that, if not watched closely, the film could be misconstrued as an endorsement of violence and nihilism. Roger Ebert, reviewing for the Chicago Sun - Times, called Fight Club `` visceral and hard - edged '', but also `` a thrill ride masquerading as philosophy '', whose promising first act is followed by a second that panders to macho sensibilities and a third he dismissed as `` trickery ''. Ebert later acknowledged that the film was `` beloved by most, not by me ''. He was later requested to have a shot - by - shot analysis of Fight Club at the Conference on World Affairs ; he stated that `` ( s ) eeing it over the course of a week, I admired its skill even more, and its thought even less. '' Jay Carr of The Boston Globe opined that the film began with an `` invigoratingly nervy and imaginative buzz '', but that it eventually became `` explosively silly ''. Newsweek 's David Ansen described Fight Club as `` an outrageous mixture of brilliant technique, puerile philosophizing, trenchant satire and sensory overload '' and thought that the ending was too pretentious. Richard Schickel of Time described the director 's mise en scène as dark and damp : `` It enforces the contrast between the sterilities of his characters ' aboveground life and their underground one. Water, even when it 's polluted, is the source of life ; blood, even when it 's carelessly spilled, is the symbol of life being fully lived. To put his point simply : it 's better to be wet than dry. '' Schickel applauded the performances of Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, but he criticized the film 's `` conventionally gimmicky '' unfolding and the failure to make Helena Bonham Carter 's character interesting. Cineaste 's Gary Crowdus reviewed the critical reception in retrospect : `` Many critics praised Fight Club, hailing it as one of the most exciting, original, and thought - provoking films of the year. '' He wrote of the negative opinion, `` While Fight Club had numerous critical champions, the film 's critical attackers were far more vocal, a negative chorus which became hysterical about what they felt to be the excessively graphic scenes of fisticuffs... They felt such scenes served only as a mindless glamorization of brutality, a morally irresponsible portrayal, which they feared might encourage impressionable young male viewers to set up their own real - life fight clubs in order to beat each other senseless. '' Fight Club was nominated for the 2000 Academy Award for Best Sound Editing, but it lost to The Matrix. Bonham Carter won the 2000 Empire Award for Best British Actress. The Online Film Critics Society also nominated Fight Club for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor ( Norton ), Best Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay ( Uhls ). Though the film won none of the awards, the organization listed Fight Club as one of the top ten films of 1999. The soundtrack was nominated for a BRIT Award, losing to Notting Hill. On Rotten Tomatoes, Fight Club holds a rating of 79 %, based on 162 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3 / 10. The site 's consensus reads, `` Solid acting, amazing direction, and elaborate production design make Fight Club a wild ride. '' On Metacritic, the film has a score of 66 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating `` generally favorable reviews ''. Cultural impact Fight Club was one of the most controversial and talked - about films of the 1990s. Like other films released that year, including Magnolia, Being John Malkovich and Three Kings, Fight Club was recognized as an innovator in cinematic form and style since it exploited new developments in filmmaking technology. After Fight Club 's theatrical release, it became more popular via word of mouth, and the positive reception of the DVD established it as a cult film that David Ansen of Newsweek conjectured would enjoy `` perennial '' fame. The film 's success also heightened Palahniuk 's profile to global renown. Following Fight Club 's release, several fight clubs were reported to have started in the United States. A `` Gentleman 's Fight Club '' was started in Menlo Park, California in 2000 and had members mostly from the tech industry. Teens and preteens in Texas, New Jersey, Washington state, and Alaska also initiated fight clubs and posted videos of their fights online, leading authorities to break up the clubs. In 2006, an unwilling participant from a local high school was injured at a fight club in Arlington, Texas, and the DVD sales of the fight led to the arrest of six teenagers. An unsanctioned fight club was also started at Princeton University, where matches were held on campus. The film was suspected of influencing Luke Helder, a college student who planted pipe bombs in mailboxes in 2002. Helder 's goal was to create a smiley pattern on the map of the United States, similar to the scene in Fight Club in which a building is vandalized to have a smiley on its exterior. On July 16, 2009, a 17 - year - old who had formed his own fight club in Manhattan was charged with detonating a homemade bomb outside a Starbucks Coffee shop in the Upper East Side. The New York City Police Department reported the suspect was trying to emulate `` Project Mayhem ''. In September 2015, two employees at Lightbridge Academy, a New Jersey daycare center, were charged with instigating `` Fight Club -- style '' brawls between children aged four to six years of age. The fights were reportedly filmed and uploaded to Snapchat, a video messaging application, and involved approximately a `` dozen boys and girls ''. In the videos, one of the perpetrators, Erica Kenny, can be heard making references to Fight Club. The charges stem from an incident that occurred on August 13, 2015, but investigators are looking into whether the fights were ongoing. A video game adaptation of the film, titled Fight Club, was released by Vivendi in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and for mobile phones. The game was a critical and commercial failure, and was panned by such publications and websites as GameSpot, Game Informer, and IGN. In 2003, Fight Club was listed as one of the `` 50 Best Guy Movies of All Time '' by Men 's Journal. In 2006 and 2008, Fight Club was voted by Empire readers as the eighth and tenth greatest film of all time, respectively. Total Film ranked Fight Club as `` The Greatest Film of our Lifetime '' in 2007 during the magazine 's tenth anniversary. In 2007, Premiere selected Tyler Durden 's line, `` The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club, '' as the 27th greatest movie line of all time. In 2008, readers of Empire ranked Tyler Durden eighth on a list of the 100 Greatest Movie Characters. Empire also identified Fight Club as the 10th greatest movie of all time in its 2008 issue The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. In 2010, two viral mash - up videos featuring Fight Club were released. Ferris Club was a mash - up of Fight Club and the 1986 film Ferris Bueller 's Day Off. It portrayed Ferris as Tyler Durden and Cameron as the narrator, `` claiming to see the real psychological truth behind the John Hughes classic ''. The second video Jane Austen 's Fight Club also gained popularity online as a mash - up of Fight Club 's fighting rules and the characters created by 19th century novelist Jane Austen. American film Institute nominations AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes : `` First rule of Fight Club is -- you do not talk about Fight Club. '' AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Movies ( 10th Anniversary Edition ) See also United States portal Film portal List of American films of 1999 Notes ^ Jump up to : `` Fight Club ( 1999 ) ''. Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` Fight Club ( 1999 ) ''. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on February 24, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2015. ^ Jump up to : `` Fight Club - Detail view of Movies Page ''. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Sragow, Michael ( 19 April 1999 ). `` ' Fight Club ' : ' A Weird Catcher in the Rye ' ''. CNN. Archived from the original on December 6, 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2017. ^ Jump up to : Laist, Randy ( 12 March 2015 ). `` Cinema of Simulation : Hyperreal Hollywood in the Long 1990s ''. Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 30 April 2017. ^ Jump up to : Hobson, Louis B. ( October 10, 1999 ). `` Fiction for real ''. Calgary Sun. Jump up ^ `` Reader 's Poll : The 25 Best Movies of the 1990s ''. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2017. Jump up ^ `` 20 Best Movies of the 1990s ''. Screen Rant. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2017. Jump up ^ `` The 10 Most Influential Films of the 90s ''. Generation Film. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2017. ^ Jump up to : Smith 1999, p. 64 Jump up ^ `` 100 DVDs You Must Own ''. Empire. January 2003. p. 31. Jump up ^ Smith 1999, p. 60 ^ Jump up to : Wise, Damon ( December 1999 ). `` Menace II Society ''. Empire. Jump up ^ Sragow, Michael ( October 14, 1999 ). `` Testosterama ''. Salon.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2007. ^ Jump up to : Fight Club DVD commentary featuring David Fincher, Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter, ( 2000 ), 20th Century Fox. ^ Jump up to : Teasdall, Barbara ( 1999 ). `` Edward Norton Fights His Way to the Top ''. Reel.com. Movie Gallery. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved March 24, 2007. Jump up ^ Said, S.F. ( April 19, 2003 ). `` It 's the thought that counts ''. The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on April 30, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2008. ^ Jump up to : Smith 1999, p. 65 Jump up ^ O'Connor, Robby ( October 8, 1999 ). `` Interview with Edward Norton ''. Yale Herald. ^ Jump up to : Schaefer, Stephen ( October 1999 ). `` Brad Pitt & Edward Norton ''. MrShowbiz.com. ABC News Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved March 26, 2007. ^ Jump up to : Fuller, Graham ; Eidelman, D ; Thomson, JG ( November 1999 ). `` Fighting Talk ''. Interview. Vol. 24 no. 5. pp. 1071 -- 7. ^ Jump up to : `` ' Club ' fighting for a respectful place in life ''. Post-Tribune. March 15, 2001. ^ Jump up to : Hobson, Louis B. ( October 10, 1999 ). `` Get ready to rumble ''. Calgary Sun. Jump up ^ Slotek, Jim ( October 10, 1999 ). `` Cruisin ' for a bruisin ' ''. Toronto Sun. Jump up ^ Smith 1999, p. 67 Jump up ^ Moses, Michael ( 1999 ). `` Fighting Words : An interview with Fight Club director David Fincher ''. DrDrew.com. Dr. Drew. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2009. ^ Jump up to : Waxman 2005, pp. 137 -- 151 Jump up ^ Fleming, Michael ( August 19, 1997 ). `` Thornton holds reins of ' Horses ' ''. Variety. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007. ^ Jump up to : Waxman 2005, pp. 175 -- 184 Jump up ^ Biskind, Peter ( August 1999 ). `` Extreme Norton ''. Vanity Fair. Jump up ^ Petrikin, Chris ( January 7, 1998 ). `` Studio Report Card : Fox ''. Variety. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007. ^ Jump up to : Garrett, Stephen ( July 1999 ). `` Freeze Frame ''. Details. Jump up ^ Schneller, Johanna ( August 1999 ). `` Brad Pitt and Edward Norton make ' Fight Club ' ''. Premiere. Jump up ^ Nashawaty, Chris ( July 16, 1998 ). `` Brad Pitt loses his teeth for a `` Fight '' ``. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007. Jump up ^ `` The Story Behind Fight Club ''. Total Film. November 20, 2009. Archived from the original on February 20, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2010. The studio wanted Winona Ryder. Fincher wanted Garofalo, but she was `` uncomfortable with the idea of all this sex ''. Jump up ^ `` Palahniuk : Marketing ' Fight Club ' is ' the ultimate absurd joke ' ''. CNN. October 29, 1999. Archived from the original on February 5, 2007. Retrieved March 26, 2007. Jump up ^ Johnson, Richard ( November 1999 ). `` Boxing Helena ''. Los Angeles Magazine. Jump up ^ Smith 1999, p. 61 Jump up ^ Kleinman, Geoffrey. `` Interview With Fight Club Author Chuck Palahniuk ''. DVD Talk. Archived from the original on January 23, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2007. Jump up ^ Schaefer, Stephen ( October 13, 1999 ). `` Fight Club 's Controversial Cut ''. MrShowbiz.com. ABC News Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on April 16, 2001. Retrieved December 2, 2007. Jump up ^ Waxman 2005, pp. 199 -- 202 Jump up ^ `` It Bruiser : Julie Pearce ''. Entertainment Weekly. July 25, 1999. ^ Jump up to : Probst 1999 Jump up ^ Wayne, Gary J. ( c. 2013 ). `` Filming Locations of Fight Club ( Part 1 ) ''. Seeing Stars in Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 31, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2013. Jump up ^ Covert, Colin ( March 29, 2002 ). `` Fear factor is Fincher 's forte ''. Star Tribune. ^ Jump up to : Martin, Kevin H. ( January 2000 ). `` A World of Hurt ''. Cinefex. Archived from the original on 2004 - 02 - 27. Jump up ^ Smith 1999, pp. 61 -- 62 Jump up ^ Frauenfelder, Mark ( August 1999 ). `` Hollywood 's Head Case ''. Wired. Jump up ^ Schurr, Amanda ( November 19, 1999 ). `` Score one for musicians turned film composers ''. Sarasota Herald - Tribune. Jump up ^ Spitz, Marc ( September 2004 ). `` Life to the Pixies ''. Spin. p. 77. `` ( Kim ) Deal : I think ( that last scene in ) Fight Club got ' Where Is My Mind ? ' popular. I do n't know how people know our music now. For some reason, over the decade we got popular. '' ^ Jump up to : Waxman 2005, pp. 253 -- 273 Jump up ^ Linson 2002, p. 152 Jump up ^ Svetkey, Benjamin ( October 15, 1999 ). `` Blood, Sweat, and Fears ''. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 19, 2008. Retrieved April 30, 2008. Jump up ^ Klady, Leonard ( June 17, 1999 ). `` Fox holds the ' Fight ' to fall ''. Variety. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007. Jump up ^ Goodwin, Christopher ( September 19, 1999 ). `` The malaise of the American male ''. The Sunday Times. UK. ^ Jump up to : Linson 2002, p. 155 Jump up ^ `` ' Fight Club ' gets Venice premiere ''. Associated Press via Lubbock Avalanche - Journal. September 11, 1999. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2015. Jump up ^ Gristwood, Sarah ( September 14, 1999 ). `` Fury of fists ''. The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2009. Jump up ^ Orwall, Bruce ( October 25, 1999 ). `` L.A. Confidential : Studios Move to Put A Halt on Issuing Box - Office Estimates ''. Wall Street Journal. Jump up ^ `` Weekend Box Office Results for October 15 -- 17, 1999 ''. Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on December 7, 2006. Retrieved November 14, 2006. Jump up ^ Hayes, Dade ( October 18, 1999 ). `` ' Jeopardy ' just barely ''. Variety. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Weekend Box Office Results for October 22 -- 24, 1999 ''. Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved November 14, 2006. Jump up ^ Lyman, Rick ( June 26, 2000 ). `` Media Talk ; Changes at Fox Studio End Pax Hollywood ''. The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 21, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2007. Jump up ^ Dawtrey, Adam ( November 9, 1999 ). `` UK to cut ' Club ' ''. Variety. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007. Jump up ^ French, Philip ( March 4, 2007 ). `` Fight Club ''. The Observer. UK. Archived from the original on October 2, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2007. Jump up ^ Kirsner, Scott ( April 23, 2007 ). `` How DVDs became a success ''. Variety. Archived from the original on July 13, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Fight Club ''. foxstore.com. 20th Century Fox. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Fight Club Special Edition ''. foxstore.com. 20th Century Fox. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2007. ^ Jump up to : Misek, Marla ( November 2001 ). `` For Fight Club and Seven, package makes perfect ''. EMedia Magazine. Vol. 14 no. 11. pp. 27 -- 28. Jump up ^ Wilson, Wendy ( June 12, 2000 ). `` Fox 's Fight Club delivers knockout package, promo ''. Video Business. Jump up ^ `` The OFCS 2000 Year End Awards ''. Online Film Critics Society. Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on March 5, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007. Jump up ^ `` The 50 Essential DVDs ''. Entertainment Weekly. January 19, 2001. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007. Jump up ^ Cole, Ron ( February 14, 2004 ). `` Do n't let Kurt Russell classic escape you ''. Battle Creek Enquirer. Gannett Company. Jump up ^ Lim, Dennis ( 6 November 2009 ). `` ' Fight Club ' Fight Goes On ''. The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2013. Jump up ^ Bing, Jonathan ( April 11, 2001 ). `` ' Fight Club ' author books pair of deals ''. Variety. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved May 1, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Fight Club ( PILF - 2835 ) ''. Archived from the original on May 11, 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013. Jump up ^ Fincher, David ( director ) ( 2000 ). Fight Club ( motion picture ( video tape ) ). Beverly Hills, Calif. : Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. OCLC 45259209. Jump up ^ Ault, Susanne ( September 18, 2009 ). `` PHYSICAL : Fox packaging reflects film 's anti-establishment themes ''. Video Business. Archived from the original on September 25, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2009. Jump up ^ Bradner, Liesl ( September 12, 2009 ). `` ' Fight Club ' hits the streets again, 10 years after the first punch ''. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 18, 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2009. Jump up ^ Villarreal, Phil ( November 18, 2009 ). `` Fight Club Blu - ray Messes With Viewers ''. The Consumerist. Archived from the original on December 19, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2009. Jump up ^ Gritten, David ( September 14, 1999 ). `` Premiere of Fight Club leaves critics slugging it out in Venice ''. The Ottawa Citizen. Jump up ^ Christopher, James ( September 13, 2001 ). `` How was it for you ? ''. The Times. UK. Jump up ^ Goodwin, Christopher ( September 24, 1999 ). `` The beaten generation ''. The Australian. Jump up ^ Maslin, Janet ( October 15, 1999 ). `` Film Review ; Such a Very Long Way From Duvets to Danger ''. The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2008. Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger ( October 15, 1999 ). `` Fight Club ''. Chicago Sun - Times. Archived from the original on April 5, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007. Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger ( August 24, 2007 ). `` Zodiac ''. Chicago Sun - Times. Archived from the original on May 22, 2008. Retrieved April 30, 2008. Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger ( 2003 ). The Great Movies ( Reprint ed. ). Broadway Books. p. xvi. ISBN 978 - 0767910385. Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016. Jump up ^ Carr, Jay ( October 15, 1999 ). `` ' Fight Club ' packs a punch but lacks stamina ''. Boston Globe. Jump up ^ Ansen, David ( October 18, 1999 ). `` A Fistful of Darkness ''. Newsweek. Jump up ^ Schickel, Richard ( October 11, 1999 ). `` Conditional Knockout ''. Time. Archived from the original on January 22, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008. Jump up ^ Crowdus, Gary ( September 2000 ). `` Getting Exercised Over Fight Club ''. Cineaste. Vol. 25 no. 4. pp. 46 -- 48. Jump up ^ Hawker, Philippa ( March 28, 2000 ). `` Oscar 2000 -- Shocking ? Not ! ''. The Age. Australia. Jump up ^ `` Sony Ericsson Empire Awards -- 2000 Winners ''. Empire. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007. Jump up ^ `` 1999 Year - End Award Nominees ''. Online Film Critics Society. Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on March 5, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2007. Jump up ^ `` The OFCS 1999 Year End Awards ''. Online Film Critics Society. Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on April 19, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Brits 2000 : The winners ''. BBC News. BBC News. March 3, 2000. Archived from the original on March 8, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Fight Club review ''. Rottentomatoes.com. Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved 2016 - 07 - 31. Jump up ^ `` Fight Club Reviews ''. Metacritic. 1999 - 10 - 15. Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved 2016 - 07 - 31. Jump up ^ `` ' Fight Club ' author Palahniuk to participate in academic conference at Edinboro University ''. Erie Times - News. March 26, 2001. Jump up ^ Pulver, Andrew ( November 27, 2004 ). `` Personality crisis : David Fincher 's Fight Club ( 1999 ) ''. The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on May 7, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2008. Jump up ^ Wise, Damon ( November 2, 2000 ). `` Now you see it ''. The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on May 9, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2008. Jump up ^ Nunziata, Nick ( March 23, 2004 ). `` The personality of cult ''. CNN. Archived from the original on December 8, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2007. Jump up ^ Ansen, David ( July 11, 2005 ). `` Is Anybody Making Movies We 'll Actually Watch In 50 Years ? ''. Newsweek. Jump up ^ Flynn, Bob ( March 29, 2007 ). `` Fighting talk ''. The Independent. UK. Jump up ^ `` Fight club draws techies for bloody underground beatdowns ''. USA Today. Associated Press. May 29, 2006. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2007. Jump up ^ Rosenstein, Bruce ( August 1, 2006 ). `` Illegal, violent teen fight clubs face police crackdown ''. USA Today. Archived from the original on April 27, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2007. Jump up ^ `` At Princeton, no punches pulled ''. The Philadelphia Inquirer. June 6, 2001. Jump up ^ Rossi, C.T. ( June 10, 2002 ). `` Father Absence Key to Male Masculinity Crisis ''. Insight on the News. News World Communications. Jump up ^ `` Starbucks bombing blamed on ' Fight Club ' fancy ''. The Washington Times. Associated Press. July 16, 2009. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved July 18, 2009. Jump up ^ DeGregory, Priscilla. `` Day care workers charged with running toddler ' Fight Club ' '' Archived September 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., www.nypost.com, published 09 - 01 - 2015. Retrieved 09 - 02 - 2015. Jump up ^ Bolton, Doug ( 9 - 2 - 2015 ). `` Two women arrested over alleged child ' fight club ' at a New Jersey nursery '', www.independent.co.uk, Retrieved 09 - 03 - 2015. Jump up ^ Kasavin, Greg ( 11 November 2004 ). `` Fight Club Review ( PS2, Xbox ) ''. GameSpot. Archived from the original on January 11, 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016. Jump up ^ Ryckert, Dan ( April 2011 ). `` Top Ten Fighting Games We 'd Like to Forget ''. Game Informer ( 216 ). Jump up ^ Perry, Douglass C. ( 15 November 2004 ). `` Fight Club ( PS2, Xbox ) ''. IGN. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016. Jump up ^ Dirks, Tim. `` 50 Best Guy Movies of All Time ''. Filmsite. AMC. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2009. Jump up ^ `` The 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time ''. Empire. January 30, 2004. p. 96. Jump up ^ `` The 201 Greatest Movies Of All Time ''. Empire. January 2006. p. 98. Jump up ^ `` Ten Greatest Films of the Past Decade ''. Total Film : 98. April 2007. Jump up ^ `` The 100 Greatest Movie Lines ''. Premiere. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2009. Jump up ^ `` The 100 Greatest Movie Characters -- 8. Tyler Durden ''. Empire. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2008. Jump up ^ `` Empire 's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time ''. Empire. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ Chivers, Tom ( July 26, 2010 ). `` Jane Austen 's Fight Club is viral web video hit ''. The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on August 12, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2010. Jump up ^ Staskiewicz, Keith ( July 30, 2010 ). `` I am Jane 's pinching corset : We talk to the creator of ' Jane Austen 's Fight Club ' ''. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 4, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010. Jump up ^ `` AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes Nominees '' ( PDF ). American Film Institute. Archived ( PDF ) from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved 2016 - 07 - 31. Jump up ^ `` AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Movies ( 10th Anniversary Edition ) Ballot '' ( PDF ). American Film Institute. Archived ( PDF ) from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved 2016 - 07 - 31. References Linson, Art ( May 2002 ). `` Fight Clubbed ''. What Just Happened ? Bitter Hollywood Tales from the Front Line. Bloomsbury USA. pp. 141 -- 156. ISBN 978 - 1 - 58234 - 240 - 5. Probst, Christopher ( November 1999 ). `` Anarchy in the U.S.A ''. American Cinematographer. 80 ( 11 ) : 42 -- 44 +. Archived from the original on May 24, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2009. Smith, Gavin ( Sep -- Oct 1999 ). `` Inside Out : Gavin Smith Goes One - on - One with David Fincher ''. Film Comment. 35 ( 5 ) : 58 -- 62, 65, 67 -- 68. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Waxman, Sharon ( December 2005 ). Rebels on the Backlot : Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered the Hollywood Studio System. HarperEntertainment. ISBN 978 - 0 - 06 - 054017 - 3. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Fight Club Fight Club on IMDb Fight Club at AllMovie Fight Club at Rotten Tomatoes Fight Club at Metacritic Fight Club at Box Office Mojo Fight Club at Fox Movies Fight Club Books Fight Club Fight Club 2 Adaptations Fight Club ( film ) Fight Club ( video game ) Fight Club ( musical ) Characters The Narrator / Tyler Durden Marla Singer Robert `` Big Bob '' Paulson Angel Face Notable persons Helena Bonham Carter The Dust Brothers Jeff Cronenweth David Fincher Jared Leto Meat Loaf Edward Norton Chuck Palahniuk Brad Pitt Jim Uhls Cameron Stewart Products Paper Street Soap Films directed by David Fincher Alien 3 ( 1992 ) Seven ( 1995 ) The Game ( 1997 ) Fight Club ( 1999 ) Panic Room ( 2002 ) Zodiac ( 2007 ) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ( 2008 ) The Social Network ( 2010 ) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ( 2011 ) Gone Girl ( 2014 ) Works by Chuck Palahniuk Novels Fight Club ( 1996 ) Survivor ( 1999 ) Invisible Monsters ( 1999 ) Choke ( 2001 ) Lullaby ( 2002 ) Diary ( 2003 ) Haunted ( 2005 ) Rant ( 2007 ) Snuff ( 2008 ) Pygmy ( 2009 ) Tell - All ( 2010 ) Damned ( 2011 ) Invisible Monsters Remix ( 2012 ) Doomed ( 2013 ) Beautiful You ( 2014 ) Short Story Collections Haunted ( 2005 ) Make Something Up ( 2015 ) Bait ( 2016 ) Non-fiction Fugitives and Refugees : A Walk in Portland, Oregon ( 2003 ) Stranger than Fiction : True Stories ( 2004 ) Comic books Fight Club 2 ( 2015 - 16 ) Film adaptations Fight Club ( 1999 ) Choke ( 2008 ) VIAF : 316752084 GND : 7569656 - 3 SUDOC : 143346849 BNF : cb16657385s ( data ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fight_Club&oldid=808776968 '' Categories : 1999 films English - language films 1990s drama films American films American satirical films American drama films American black comedy films Dissociative identity disorder in films Films about terrorism Films based on American novels Films set in Delaware Films shot in Los Angeles Fiction with unreliable narrators Films directed by David Fincher 20th Century Fox films Regency Enterprises films Fictional secret societies Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Use mdy dates from January 2012 Featured articles Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Azərbaycanca বাংলা Български Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Emiliàn e rumagnòl Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית ქართული Қазақша Кыргызча Latina Latviešu Lietuvių Magyar Македонски മലയാളം მარგალური Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Polski Português Română Русский Саха тыла Shqip Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt Zazaki 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 5 November 2017, at 02 : 44. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who is the main character in fight club
Answer: unnamed protagonist, referred to as the narrator,