Claim: Jake Gyllenhaal is in Zodiac as an actor.

Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery-thriller film directed by David Fincher . The screenplay by James Vanderbilt is based on the 1986 non-fiction book of the same name by Robert Graysmith . The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal , Mark Ruffalo , and Robert Downey , Jr. , with Anthony Edwards , Brian Cox , Elias Koteas , Donal Logue , John Carroll Lynch , Dermot Mulroney , and Chloë Sevigny in supporting roles .   Zodiac tells the story of the manhunt for a notorious serial killer who called himself the `` Zodiac '' and killed in and around the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s , leaving several victims in his wake and taunting police with letters , blood stained clothing , and ciphers mailed to newspapers . The cases remain one of Northern California 's most infamous unsolved crimes .   Fincher , Vanderbilt and producer Bradley J. Fischer spent 18 months conducting their own investigation and research into the Zodiac murders . Fincher employed the digital Thomson Viper Filmstream camera to photograph the film . However , Zodiac was not shot entirely digitally ; traditional high-speed film cameras were used for slow-motion murder sequences .   Reviews for Zodiac were very positive , lauding the film 's writing , directing , acting and historical authenticity and Fincher won the `` Best Director '' prize from the Dublin Film Critics ' Circle in 2007 . The film grossed over $ 84 million worldwide against a production budget of $ 65 million .