It’s been about two months since David Fincher’s highly-anticipated return to feature-length directing wrapped production and now producer Eric Roth has said that Mank, a biopic focused on Citizen Kane scribe Herman J. Mankiewicz, is primed for an October release. (Via The Film Stage)
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In an interview with Pardon My Take, Roth called the film “an incredible piece” and said the film is currently set for an October release on Netflix. Though the streaming service has yet to confirm said release date, their last Oscar-hunter The Irishman saw producer Irwin Winkler confirm a Thanksgiving release five months ahead of time and despite Netflix shutting the announcement down, it proved to be true.
“Six people will go see it, but it’s pretty amazing,” Roth joked. “He did a black-and-white ’30s movie. It looks like a ’30s movie and feels like one.”
“He did a black-and-white ’30s movie. It looks like a ’30s movie and feels like one.” He also joked, “Six people will go see it, but it’s pretty amazing.”
The cast, led by Gary Oldman, also includes Lily Collins, Charles Dance, Tuppence Middleton, Arliss Howard, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jamie McShane, Joseph Cross, Sam Troughton, Toby Leonard Moore, Tom Burke and Tom Pelphrey.
Mankiewicz is most famous for co-writing Citizen Kane alongside director Orson Welles. Widely considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, it gave Mankiewicz quite the influence in the golden age of Hollywood. In keeping with the vibe, Mank will be filmed entirely in black and white and will start shooting in November.
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Having written or co-written nearly 100 other films, including classics like The Pride of the Yankees, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and The Wizard of Oz, he remains best-known for Citizen Kane. Although the film caused a rift between him and Welles, as Mankiewicz accused the director of pushing him out of the limelight, even offering to pay him off so Welles could get the sole writing credit on the film.
Fincher spent more than 20 years trying to bring Mankiewicz’s story to the big screen. Now, with a script written by his father, for newspaper writer Jack Fincher, the project has found a home on Netflix. It marks his first time in the director’s chair since 2014’s Gone Girl. He was set to helm the World War Z sequel, but the project was shelved back in February. Fincher will produce alongside Cean Chaffin and Douglas Urbanski.
