Orson Welles and Herman Mankiewicz
David Fincher (Social Network, Seven) is set to direct a Herman J. Mankiewicz biopic for Netflix.
Mank will star Gary Oldman as the man who shared the Academy Award for Best Original screenplay with Orson Welles for Citizen Kane.
The script for Mank was penned by Finchher’s late father, Howard Fincher, a former bureau chief for LIFE magazine.
Two decades ago, Mank was going to be Fincher’s followup to his 1997 film The Game, and star his future House of Cards leading man Kevin Spacey as the veteran screenwriter. However, the project stalled because of Fincher’s insistence that it be shot in black and white, like Citizen Kane.
No word as to who will be cast as Welles or whether the story will embrace the discredited Pauline Kael argument that Mankiewicz was the sole author of Citizen Kane.
Filming (in black and white) is expected to commence in November in Los Angeles.
Mank will be Fincher’s first feature film since 2014’s Gone Girl.
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