After a six-year hiatus, David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, The Social Network, Gone Girl) is set to make a return to the big screen with his latest release Mank.
Starring Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried, Mank follows the life of Herman Mankiewicz (Oldman) as he races to finish the screenplay for Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. If you think that doesn’t sound like a particularly eventful film, you’d be wrong. The 1941 classic’s screenplay was rife with development issues (not unlike so many modern-day motion pictures), with the initial draft being over 300 pages long. It was then heavily edited with input from Orson Welles to only 156 pages, leading to an argument between the two over credit. So, it looks like Mank won’t just be an interesting look at talented writer Mankiewicz, but a fresh look at the development process behind one of the most influential films of all time.
Mank may be Fincher’s first film outing in a while, but that certainly doesn’t mean he hasn’t been up to much. Fincher has been busy being an executive producer for the Netflix hit Mindhunter, which gives some notion as to why season three has been delayed and why Mank is set to be a Netflix Original. While many fans are excited about Fincher’s return to movie making, lots are also nervous about the future of Mindhunter and how much of a hit the show will take.
But no matter the damage the show may take, from what we have seen of Mank it looks like a worthwhile risk already. Alongside Oldman’s Mankiewicz, the film stars Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies and Lilly Collins as Rita Alexander, so safe to say the talent is here by the bucket load.
While David Fincher is the person directing Mank, he is not the Fincher who wrote the screenplay. That would be his late father Jack Fincher, which just goes to show that this film will mean a lot to the director. He will produce alongside Cean Chaffin, Eric Roth, and Douglas Urbanski. Fincher will also be bringing on Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor for the score with whom he had worked on Gone Girl and The Social Network.
While Mank does not yet have a release date, it is yet another Netflix film to keep an eye open for.
Words by George Bell
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.