Fight Club is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher. It is based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk, published in 1996. The film stars Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter. Norton represents the anonymous protagonist, an "ordinary man" who is unhappy with his middle-class work in American society. He forms a "combat club" with soap seller Tyler Durden, represented by Brad Pitt, and becomes involved with a dissolute woman, Marla Singer, represented by Helena Bonham Carter.
The rights to Palahniuk's novel were acquired by 20th Century Fox producer Laura Ziskin, who hired Jim Uhls to write the film adaptation. Fincher was one of four directors considered; he was eventually hired due to his enthusiasm for the film. Fincher developed the script with Uhls and sought writing advice from the cast of others in the film industry.