On the surface, David Fincher is riding high on the commercial and critical success of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but if you delve beneath the surface things don’t appear to be that rosy for the director.

For the last couple of years the Fight Club director has been trying to make a film based on the graphic novel Torso, which features real life hero Elliot Ness after he took down Al Capone. However, Paramount Pictures has recently let the rights lapse, even though it has garnered the attention of stars like Matt Damon and Casey Affleck.

The reason for this?

The high cost of Benjamin Button.