Netflix Releases Trailer for Newest David Fincher Film, ‘Mank’
October 19, 2020
Netflix has released the first trailer for “Mank,” the highly anticipated David Fincher film that tells the story of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and the emotional turmoil he faced while writing the screenplay for the Oscar-winning drama, “Citizen Kane.”
“David Fincher’s ‘Mank’ is a scathing social critique of 1930’s Hollywood through the eyes of alcoholic screenwriter, Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman,) as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane,” Netflix said, in a tweet about the upcoming film.
“Mank,” which will be available to stream on Dec. 4 alongside a limited theatrical release, coincides with the 79th anniversary of “Citizen Kane”: the beloved 1941 biographical film that explores the tumultuous life of a fictitious newspaper mogul, Charles Foster Kane. Widely believed to be based on the life of publisher William Randolph Hearst, the lead role is played by Orson Welles.
Frequently regarded by cinephiles as the greatest film ever made, the question of who wrote the screenplay for “Citizen Kane” has long been debated. “Citizen Kane” received nine academy award nominations; however, it would only be awarded the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1942, an award shared by both Markiewicz and Welles.
Fincher, the Oscar-nominated director of “The Social Network” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” based “Mank” off of the script that his father, the late American screenwriter and journalist, Jack Fincher, wrote in the 1990s. This Golden Age period piece is a project that has long been a dream of both Fincher and his father, who died in 2003.
Fincher’s film stars Gary Oldman as Mankiewicz, in the black-and-white trailer that is incredibly reminiscent of “Citizen Kane,” as the words “Coming soon to a screen near you!” flashes across the screen.
Alongside Oldman, the film stars Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies and Tom Burke as Orson Welles.
“It’s an incredible piece. He [Fincher] did a black-and-white ‘30s movie. It looks like a ‘30s movie and feels like one,” said Eric Roth, the film producer who partnered with Fincher to make the film. Fincher has yet to make a comment regarding his newest film.
As fans and film critics alike await the anticipated release of Fincher’s film, it is speculated that “Mank” will address the notorious conflicts that erupted between Orson Welles and Mankiewicz, one of which being the notorious question: “Who wrote Citizen Kane?”
“Nobody, but nobody, makes a monkey out of William Randolph Hearst!” warns Seyfried’s Davies in the film’s trailer, foreshadowing the dismal events that plagued Mankiewicz during the making of “Citizen Kane.” Watch Netflix’s first official trailer for “Mank,” here:
