‘Mank’ First Look Photos: David Fincher’s New Movie Stars Gary Oldman As ‘Citizen Kane’ Writer Herman J. Mankiewicz
DirectorDavid Fincheris back with his first feature film sinceGone Girlin 2016. The film is calledMank, and Netflix will be releasing it this fall, hoping to get some awards season glory with a story about screenwriterHerman J. Mankiewiczas he worked on the screenplay for the influential Hollywood classicCitizen Kane, directed byOrson Welles.
In honor of the 79th anniversary of the wide release ofCitizen Kane, Netflix released a batch ofMankfirst look photos, revealingGary Oldmanas Mankiewicz, as well asAmanda Seyfried,Charles Dance, andLily Collins, all in glorious black and white photography.
Mank First Look Photos
Netflix’s official logline forMankreads, “1930s Hollywood is re-evaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of ‘Citizen Kane’ for Orson Welles.” Above you can see Gary Oldman as the writer himself, appearing on a film set with Amanda Seyfried in the background as actress Marion Davies.
Here’s a much better look at Amanda Seyfried as the woman who was not only an actress during Hollywood’s golden age, but also the mistress of William Randolph Hearst, the media mogul on whichCitizen Kaneis based. Davies' reputation was famously ruined by the movie after the film implied, through a character named Susan Alexander, that her career was bolstered by positive critical reviews bought and paid for by Hearst in his own newspapers.
Speaking of William Randolph Hearst, here’s Charles Dance playing the businessman himself, seemingly on the same movie set where Gary Oldman is seen above. However, it should be noted that this isn’t the set ofCitizen Kane, because Hearst was not consulted or involved in the making of the movie. In fact, due to the movie’s rather harsh portrayal of his life and relationships, Hearst ensured that his newspapers never mentioned the movie anywhere and even went out of their way to discredit Orson Welles whenever possible.
Mankiewicz was known for being a heavy drinker, but while working on theCitizen Kanescript at Kemper Campbell Ranch in Victorville, California, he was forced to stay sober for two months due to the ranch’s policy that banned alcohol on the premises. The movie was originally calledAmerican, and the first draft came in at 300 pages, but it obviously got a new title and was cut down to 156 pages after some collaboration with Orson Welles.
Famously, there was a nasty battle over who truly wrote what is considered to be one of the greatest screenplays ever written. Mankiewicz had to fight for screenplay credit, which was given to him by RKO, but Welles maintained that he only used pieces of what the writer gave to him and chose to use more of his own script that he wrote in addition to the one provided. Surely this controversy will be one of the linchpins at the center of this drama.
Mankalso starsLily Collinsas Mank’s secretary Rita Alexander,Tom Burkeas Orson Welles,Tom Pelphreyas Mankiewicz’s brother Joseph,Tuppence Middeltonas Mankiewicz’s wife Sara,Arliss Howardas MGM studio co-founder Louis B. Mayer,Sam Troughtonas John Houseman,Ferdinand Kinsleyas Ivring Thalberg,Joseph Crossas Charles Lederer,Jamie McShaneas Shelly Metcalf,Toby Leonard Mooreas David O. Selznick, andMonika Grossmanas Fraulein Freda.Mankdoesn’t have an official release date yet, but it’s expected to arrivesometime in Octoberon Netflix, which will likely release the movie in a limited number of theaters as well.
