'Mank': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and all you need to know about the black-and-white biopic by David Fincher
If you’re a fan of David Fincher then 2020 is going to get a lot better for you. The world-renowned filmmaker is soon to arrive with a biopic -- ‘Mank’.
Release date
‘Mank’ will be released in select theaters in November and will be available on Netflix on December 4.
Plot
As per Netflix’s official synopsis for the film, “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.”
Cast
Gary Oldman as Herman J. Mankiewicz
Oldman hardly requires an introduction. The 62-year-old British actor and filmmaker has played a number of memorable roles, such as Sirius Black in the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise, Commissioner Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman’ trilogy, and as Winston Churchill in ‘Darkest Hour’.
Oldman has also masterfully played negative roles in many films, the most prominent ones being ‘True Romance’, ‘The Fifth Element’, ‘Air Force One’, ‘The Contender’, and ‘Léon: The Professional’.
Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies
The 34-year-old American actor immortalized herself with her role as Karen Smith in the cult-popular teen comedy ‘Mean Girls’. She has also appeared as Lucy Montgomery on the CBS soap opera ‘As the World Turns’, as Joni Stafford on the ABC soap ‘All My Children’ and as Lilly Kane on the UPN television series ‘Veronica Mars’. In films, she appeared in ‘Nine Lives’, ‘Alpha Dog’, ‘Mamma Mia!’, ‘Solstice’, ‘Jennifer's Body’, ‘Dear John’, ‘Red Riding Hood’, ‘Pan’, ‘Fathers and Daughters’, and many more.
Tom Burke as Orson Welles
The 39-year-old British actor is best known for his role as Athos in the BBC series ‘The Musketeers’, as Dolokhov in the BBC miniseries ‘War & Peace’, and as Cormoran Strike in the BBC series ‘Strike’. As a theater actor, Burke has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He appeared at Shakespeare's Globe, playing Romeo in ‘Romeo and Juliet’. On the big screen, he’s appeared in films like ‘Cleanskin’, ‘Only God Forgives’, ‘The Invisible Woman’, and more.
The film also stars Arliss Howard as Louis B. Mayer, Tom Pelphrey as Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Sam Troughton as John Houseman, Ferdinand Kingsley as Irving Thalberg, Tuppence Middleton as Sara Mankiewicz, Charles Dance as William Randolph Hearst, Lily Collins as Rita Alexander, Jamie McShane as Shelly Metcalf, Toby Leonard Moore as David O. Selznick, Monika Grossman as Fraulein Freda, Jeff Harms as Ben Hecht, and Joseph Cross as Charles Lederer, among others.
Creator
The film is directed by David Fincher and is based on a script written by Fincher’s father Jack in the 1990s. The filmmaker originally intended to film it after he completed ‘The Game’, but it never came to fruition. The project was stalled after Jack Fincher died in 2003. Eventually, the film was officially announced in July 2019. ‘Mank’ is produced by Ceán Chaffin, Douglas Urbanski, and Eric Roth.
Fincher’s last film was ‘Gone Girl’. The filmmaker is known for his psychological thrillers and has received global acclaim for making films like ‘The Game’, ‘Se7en’, ‘Fight Club’, ‘Zodiac’, ‘The Social Network’, ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’, and ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’. He also served as an executive producer and director for the acclaimed Netflix series ‘House of Cards’ and ‘Mindhunter’.
Trailer
In the trailer for the black-and-white biopic, we see Oldman playing the alcoholic writer in a surreal blur of events as the man trips and walks and sways, all the while drinking to his death. The trailer promises a film that might just be one of 2020’s biggest. After all, a film surrounding ‘Citizen Kane’ can only be big, right?
If you like ‘Mank’, you will also like
‘Rocketman’, ‘Hollywood’, ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’, ‘The Social Network’, and ‘The Greatest Showman’.