combine with another person and have that truth exist in a relationship. The [story] definitely plays off of that idea."

"My fondest dream," Flynn explained, "is that it will be the date movie that breaks up couples nationwide. Maybe people will walk out of there and think, 'Maybe not. I don't know if I know you well enough.'"

When Fincher's Social Network opened the New York Film Festival in 2010, the event moved its opening night party to the Harvard Club and this year the filmmaker ushers in the event's return to New York City's Central Park. Tavern on the Green will again be the site of the NYFF Opening Gala. The legendary location had long served as the festival's opening night post-screening celebration, but that tradition ended when Tavernclosed in 2009. In May, owners Jim Caiola and David Salama reopened this New York landmark, decorated to evoke the original Victorian Gothic structure.

"Gone Girl is so many things at once: sharp as a razor about many aspects of American life that have been untouched by movies, very tough and just as funny, brilliantly acted, and 100% entertaining-a wild ride from start to finish," said New York Film Festival Director and Selection Committee Chair, Kent Jones. "In short, a great American movie based on a literary phenomenon, directed by one of the best filmmakers alive. I'm so proud to have the world premiere of this film as our opening night."

NYFF has typically featured some of the year's pivotal films throughout its more than half-century early fall run, including