Leonardo DiCaprio Once Teamed Up With David Fincher for a 36-Second Project

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Leonardo DiCaprio wears a black shirt and poses on the red carpet

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Great director-actor relationships can lead to some of the most prolific and successful productions in cinema history, with notable examples including Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan, and Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson. However, perhaps even more infamous are the partnerships fans have always wanted to see but never gotten, and one of the most tragic of these is Leonardo DiCaprio and David Fincher. Many believe that the pair's similarly artistic and passionate approaches to their work would make them a perfect pairing, but, alas, it has never come to pass. However, that doesn't mean they've never worked together in any way, shape, or form. In fact, many years ago, the duo combined for a 36-second camera test that, despite having no context, feels like the teaser for a brilliant thriller. In doing so, Fincher and DiCpario showed why fans are so desperate for a feature collaboration, as well as the importance of lighting and cinematography.

Leonardo DiCaprio and David Fincher Teamed Up to Test the RED Camera

Perhaps knowing the uproar such a collaboration would create, the test was never supposed to see the light of day. According to The Fincher Analyst, the footage was posted by RED founder Jim Jannard on Reduser.net and was done as a favor by Fincher and DiCaprio to Jannard. David Fincher was filming in Boston for The Social Network, and DiCaprio was also wrapping up Shutter Island in the same area. In fact, the hallway that was used to film the footage, aptly titled "The Match," since it was only lit with the flame of a single match, can be seen from the opposite side in The Social Network at the 00:07:51 timestamp, showing how this truly was done on the day, but that certainly doesn't mean it wasn't shot with skill and attention to detail.

Leonardo DiCaprio and David Fincher's RED Test is Remarkably Tense

Leonardo DiCaprio holds a match in David Fincher's 'The Match' camera RED test

The 36-second clip is incredibly simple, yet also radiates tension. DiCaprio sits in a dark room and lights his cigar with a match as the camera presses in on him. He seems to see something in the corner, behind the camera, and holds up the match to peer into the darkness, before putting it out and leaving only his silhouette. It has no right to be as engaging as it is, and it reflects just how talented Fincher and DiCaprio are at building tension.

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The darkness and central framing of DiCaprio as the camera slowly pushes in creates the sense of him being surrounded in a claustrophobic manner, slowly building on a creepy feeling which DiCaprio emphasizes with his intense, squinting stare into the darkness. By using a match, the flickering shadows keep the scene dynamic despite little movement beyond some hand gestures from DiCaprio. It feels like it could easily fit into a Fincher-style thriller, with DiCaprio haunted by some past regrets, and all of this is done with a cigar, a match, and shadows.

Leonardo DiCaprio Could Collaborate With David Fincher in the Near Future

Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth and Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

It's always wonderful to see two creatives come together, but this test is almost maddening in how it teases fans by proving just how good Fincher and DiCaprio would be if they worked together. Of course, with Fincher being 63 and DiCaprio being 51, there is still time for these two to find the right project to collaborate on. While DiCaprio could join Fincher's sequel to the Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which Netflix is producing and calling The Adventures of Cliff Booth, which would follow Brad Pitt's character from the first film. However, these only report the potential of a cameo from DiCaprio's Dalton, rather than a fully fleshed-out role for DiCaprio.

It may be that fans have to wait a long time before the next opportunity for these two titans of the film industry to come together, and even then, scheduling commitments or contract negotiations could get in the way. But considering how great this 36-second test footage was, their partnership would be more than worth the wait. For now, at least, fans do have something to sink their teeth into, and there is far more substance to it than first meets the eye.

The Adventures of Cliff Booth is expected to be released in 2026.