Unfortunately, this isn't the case of Fincher making fun of a bad romantic comedy behind its back. Never Been Kissed star/executive producer Drew Barrymore signed off on the gag, a PR rep for Fox explains in a press release:
As you have probably noticed, there is a Never Been Kissed gag on the Fight Club 10th Anniversary BD, evident immediately upon insertion. As promised, below you'll find the background on this prank, which was devised by David Fincher himself.
Fincher was heavily involved in the 10th Anniversary BD and as you may know, is a bit of a prankster. As a fun gag for the Fight Club fans, Fincher wanted the Fight Club Blu-ray Disc to begin with "a fake menu" of a romantic comedy from the same year as Fight Club, as a trick on the audience. Never Been Kissed was his top choice and he eventually went to Drew Barrymore for her approval. When users insert the disc into their BD player, the menu for Never Been Kissed will pop up for a few seconds prior to the real Fight Club menu.
As you are writing your reviews of the Fight Club 10th Anniversary BD, please feel free to let your readers know about this prank and Fincher's intentions.
Fincher should have taken the joke the extra mile and substituted the entire Never Been Kissed movie for Fight Club as some sort of anti-materialist, marketing-media complex deconstruction statement.
]]>If you don't mind the joke, but it annoys you, you're probably the type of person that would only watch this movie once a year at most anyway -- and in that context, a few seconds won't kill you.
If you're the type that can watch this movie over and over, you need help anyway. ;)
]]>@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: I know a few die hard Chuck Palahniuk fans. And not only is this their least favorite book of his, but they much prefer the movie as well.
]]>@kaceetheconsumer: I would pay money for Wolverine the musical. Seriously.
]]>There is male nudity in this movie? OMG! Now it's my favorite movie, EVER. And I've never seen it.
]]>@GitEmSteveDave_WantzTaunTaunBag: A local Rocky Horror Picture Show cast actually adulterated their reel of the film to cut a split-second of porn into one of the scenes. They did a few other things like that too, which were pretty funny.
]]>@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: I fully agree. And even Arthur C. Clarke conceded that Kubrick's take on 2001 was an improvement on his original novel. Speaking as a literature fanatic with an English degree, "The book is better!" isn't always true.
]]>@Trai_Dep: Something was off with the lemon meringue pie, too.
]]>@Riff-Raff: Oh no he din't...
]]>If you haven't done so yet, read the book. Then watch the movie. I guarantee the ending will leave you seething and wondering what the hell Fincher was thinking.
]]>Know what would be awesome? Ever After 2: Danielle Kicks Ass. Keep her in the big flumphy dresses but let her go around the countryside beating the snot out of nobles who are mean to their serfs.
But then, my real fantasy movie is Wolverine: The Musical, in which Hugh Jackman sings, dances, slices, and dices in a ripped tank top. Oh, except for the scene where he cleans up real nice into a tux...which then gets ripped off in another musical battle.
What can I say...I'm a nerd and a girl at the same time.
]]>@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: as long as she's not singing. As a musical person, Sweeney Todd made me weep.
]]>@nbs2: It's not unavoidable. You can easily bypass your player to play it at that spot. Set a bookmark or simply just accept that three or four seconds will be added to your movie viewing pleasure. It doesn't seem like it's a big deal.
]]>@pecan 3.14159265: The problem is that the menu thing is that it is funny the first one or two times, but then it gets old. Gimmicks can be fun, but if it is unavoidable...
]]>@CheritaChen: My favorite is the fake credits in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
A moose once bit my sister!
]]>I think the real joke here is that someone remembered Never Been Kissed.
]]>I know you meant the menu gimmick...which I actually find 100x more endearing than the movie.
]]>@lucky929: Helena Bonham Carter, being already unusual, can just play the same role.
]]>@vladthepaler: She could be Edward Norton, and Cameron Diaz would be Brad Pitt...
excuse me. I'm suddenly ill.
]]>I feel like this is one of those things that would be amusing the FIRST time you tried to watch it. Subsequent times would just be another few seconds between you and your movie night.
]]>@RedCatLinux: @YardanCabaret: You guys don't have menu buttons for your blu-ray players? We skipped right to the menu when we watched Star Trek.
]]>@amberlink: Have you seen the movie? If you can't get this little joke, you probably wouldn't like the movie.
]]>@Smashville_Flippin the Bird Before Bud Adams: Or not...stupid Verizon won't connect.
]]>@Traveshamockery: Done and done. And I mean done.
]]>*head asplode*
]]>Maybe it's me, but I fail to see the humor in this. It just seems a bit childish and stupid. Okay, a LOT stupid.
]]>you broke rule one and rule two . . .
]]>@adamczar: Have you seen the movie? This is a play on how Tyler worked snippets of porn into film reels at his job at the movie theater. It's silly, sure, but it makes sense in-context.
]]>It would have been more clever if they inserted a frame from a porno, as they did in the movie. They could have superimposed the director's head somewhere.
]]>Hahahaha. So funny, I'm not buying it.
]]>This kind of thing totally fits into the asthetic of the film, though.
]]>The thing is, I would have missed it. I tend to pop in the disc and then walk around and do other things while the FBI warning shows and what not.
I don't come back into the room until the menu is fully loaded.
]]>