I didn't really care much for David Fincher's "Zodiac" up on its initial release, but it has grown on me and I end up usually watching it if I catch it on television. Although many of the real-life events took place around the San Francisco area, only a small portion was actually shot there. While following Madonna on tour in 2012, I took a visit to a couple of the locations.
First up, the San Francisco harbor...
Screenshot...pre-Transamerica Pyramid and pre-earthquake....
The San Francisco Chronicle...
Screenshots....
A couple of scenes were shot in front of San Francisco City Hall, most movie-famous for Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Milk, Foul Play and Raiders of the Lost Ark...
Screenshot....
The "Valejo Police Department"... which most viewers will recognize as the Bon Temps Police Station from True Blood in Hawthorne, California....
Screenshots...
Comparison shots....
The real-life corner of Washington & Cherry where the Zodiac killed the taxi driver. The kids from the top window across the street witnessed the event and called the police. Although the nighttime scenes in the film were not shot on location, but recreated with CGI, the daytime scene was filmed on the same corner....
Screenshots...
The hardware store.....
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UPDATE: Not sure why it's taken me so long to add these locations. This corner was used from a couple of different angels in film. First up is George's 50's Diner seen near the beginning of the film....
Screenshots....
Comparison shots....
This corner was used from a couple of different angels in film. Here is the street where they get in the car to go to school....
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Comparison shot....
Same corner, different street, is the area where the bus stop is located....
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Comparison shot...
Love this LA location where Jake Gyllenhall and Mark Ruffalo meet....
Comparison shots...
The Riverside Police Station is not a police station nor is it in Riverside. I found this location as I had seen the flags of the swimming pool across the street as being across from the Crave Inn from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master...
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Comparison shots...
This next location is one I'm not quite sure about, but according the the audio commentary, Bob Vaughn's house is across the street from the bus stop. This is the that spot and it appears to be pretty similar, you be the judge...
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Comparison shot...
Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery....
Mark Ruffallo as David Toschi....
Dermot Mulroney as Marty Lee...
Charles Fleischer as Bob Vaughn in one of the film's creepiest scenes.....
