His films, of which most are psychological thrillers, have collectively grossed over $2.1 billion worldwide and have received numerous accolades, including three nominations for the Academy Awards for Best Director.

He received two Grammy Awards for Best Music Video for "Love Is Strong" (1994) by the Rolling Stones and "Suit & Tie" (2013) by Justin Timberlake featuring Jay-Z.

He directed plays and designed sets and lighting after school, was a non-union projectionist at Varsity Theatre, and worked as a production assistant at the KOBI news station in Medford.

[5][9] He was hired by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in 1983 as an assistant cameraman and matte photographer[5] and worked on Return of the Jedi (1983) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).

[5] This quickly brought Fincher to the attention of producers in Los Angeles, and he was soon given the opportunity to direct Rick Springfield's 1985 documentary, The Beat of the Live Drum.

[12] Fincher directed TV commercials for many companies including Levi's, Converse, Nike, Pepsi, Revlon, Sony, Coca-Cola and Chanel, although he loathed doing them.

He directed videos for various artists including singer-songwriters Rick Springfield, Don Henley, Martha Davis, Paula Abdul, rock band the Outfield, and R&B singer Jermaine Stewart.

[17][18] In 1990, 20th Century Fox hired Fincher to replace Vincent Ward as the director for the science-fiction horror Alien 3 (1992), his film directorial debut.

[27][29] Starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, and Kevin Spacey, it tells the story of two detectives who attempt to identify a serial killer who bases his murders on the Christian seven deadly sins.

[31] Writing for Sight and Sound, John Wrathall said it "stands as the most complex and disturbing entry in the serial killer genre since Manhunter" and Roger Ebert opined that Seven is "one of the darkest and most merciless films ever made in the Hollywood mainstream.

Starring Jodie Foster (who replaced Nicole Kidman), Forest Whitaker, Kristen Stewart, Dwight Yoakam, and Jared Leto,[47] it was theatrically released on March 29, 2002, after a month delay, to critical acclaim and commercial success.

[49] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle praised the filmmakers for their "fair degree of ingenuity... for 88 minutes of excitement" and the convincing performance given by Foster.

"[53] After extensive research on the case with fellow producers, Fincher formed a principal cast of Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards and Brian Cox.

[59] His next project was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's eponymous 1923 short story, about a man who is born as a seventy-year-old baby and ages in reverse.

[64] The film received thirteen Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Fincher, Best Actor for Pitt, and Best Supporting Actress for Taraji P. Henson, and won three, for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Visual Effects.

[66] It stars Jesse Eisenberg as Zuckerberg, with a supporting cast of Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer and Max Minghella.

[71] In 2011, Fincher followed the success of The Social Network with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a psychological thriller based on the novel by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson.

Screenwriter Steven Zaillian spent three months analyzing the novel, writing notes and deleting elements to achieve a suitable running time.

[79] In 2013, Fincher served as an executive producer for the Netflix television series House of Cards, a political thriller about a Congressman's quest for revenge, of which he also directed the first two episodes.

[87] Set in Missouri, the story begins as a mystery that follows the events surrounding Nick Dunne (Affleck), who becomes the prime suspect in the sudden disappearance of his wife Amy (Pike).

[88] Writing for Salon magazine, Andrew O'Hehir praises the "tremendous ensemble cast who mesh marvelously", adding, "All the technical command of image, sound and production design for which Fincher is justly famous is here as well.

The series, based on the book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, debuted on Netflix worldwide on October 13, 2017.

[99] Gary Oldman portrayed Mankiewicz,[100] and the film received ten Academy Award nominations, winning two for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.

[103] In February 2021, it was reported that Fincher would direct an adaptation of the graphic novel The Killer for Netflix, with Andrew Kevin Walker writing the screenplay and Michael Fassbender attached to star.

In 2024, it was reported that Fincher was interested in working on an American adaptation of the popular Korean series Squid Game and was developing it alongside a Chinatown prequel miniseries that he co-wrote with the late Robert Towne.

He has listed filmmakers George Roy Hill, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Alan J. Pakula, Ridley Scott, and Martin Scorsese as his major influences.

[107] His personal favorite films include Rear Window (1954), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Graduate (1967), Paper Moon (1973), American Graffiti (1973), Jaws (1975), All the President's Men (1976), Taxi Driver (1976), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Zelig (1983).

In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Fincher uses heavy desaturation for certain scenes, and increases or decreases the effect based on the story or characters' emotions.

Quoting historian Frank Krutnik, the writer Piers McCarthy argues that "the protagonists of these films are not totally in control of their actions but are subject to darker, inner impulses".

Describing their working relationship with Fincher, they said he "was not hanging over our shoulders telling us what to do" and that the only direction he gave was to make the music sound as great as the score from The Graduate (1967).