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Screenwriter David Koepp was inspired by news coverage in 2000 about how safe rooms were becoming prevalent among the wealthy living in urban areas. He sold the script to Sony Pictures for . Before Fincher's involvement, director Ridley Scott was briefly connected to the project, and actor-director Forest Whitaker studied the script before declining the opportunity to direct. Fincher said he was interested in the script's omniscience and that he was reminded of "the specific subjectivity" of "Rear Window" (1954). He also saw "Panic Room" as a cross between "Rear Window" and "Straw Dogs" (1971), though he was concerned "a modern audience" would compare "Panic Room" more to "Home Alone" (1990) than to "Rear Window".