David Fincher doesn’t make a ton of movies, so anytime there’s a new one it’s cause for celebration. Fincher doing serious drama, something he hasn’t attempted in at least a decade, makes the arrival of Mank all the more exciting because this has Oscars written all over it.
Mank is the story of the making of Citizen Kane, considered by many to be the greatest movie of all-time. However, the perspective is from its screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, an alcoholic who famously did battle with Orson Welles and the studio leading up to its eventual release.
Taking on the role of Mankiewicz, and looking like he might win his second Best Actor in three years, is Gary Oldman. He’s joined by Amanda Seyfried, Tom Burke, Lily Collins, Charles Dance, Tom Pelphrey, Arliss Howard, and more as key figures of the Hollywood’s golden era of the 1930s, a time that Fincher plans to reevaluate. The script was written by Fincher’s late father, Jack.
Mank hits Netflix on December 4th.