David Fincher announces first new movie in five years

David Fincher has announced his first film in five years. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the veteran filmmaker is pairing up with Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman to tell the story of Citizen Kane co-writer Herman Mankiewicz.

It’s called Mank, it’s going to be shot in black in white, and it’s going to Netflix. Naturally, Oldman will play Mankiewicz, whose sordid past should give him a fair shot at another Oscar in the wake of his win for 2017’s Darkest Hour.

Like the back-stabbing narrative that fueled Fincher’s The Social Network, much of Mankiewicz’s story will likely revolve around his claims that filmmaker Orson Welles tried to shove him off Citizen Kane. Nice guy.

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But also perfect fodder for Fincher, who’s been trying to get this story on the screen for over 20 years. In fact, he had been planning to make this his followup to 1997’s The Game, and then, you know, Fight Club came around.

Believe it or not, the last film Fincher released was 2014’s Gone Girl. Since then, he’s been busy with Netflix’s Mindhunter — hence the move to the streaming giant — and was graced by the gods with the cancellation of that World War Z sequel.

David Fincher announces first new movie in five years
Michael Roffman