How $25 Million “Passion Project” May Win Netflix an Oscar

In an excitingly unpredictable awards season, one film has come out ahead with by far the most Oscar nominations: “Mank," a story takes audiences behind the scenes on the creation of a classic Hollywood film: Citizen Kane. It follows relationship of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles. David Fincher has been working to get this film made for almost thirty years. Now it’s in the running for best picture.

The script for Mank was written by Fincher’s father – journalist Jack Fincher. “Mank” was his first and only film credit, and now, seventeen years after his death, it has earned him an Oscar nomination.

The now iconic director encouraged his father to explore the relationship between Mankiewicz and Welles. However, they were unable to sell the script, partially because studios were wary of a film designed to be produced in black and white.

It wasn’t until David Fincher created “House of Cards” and cerebral crime series “Mindhunter” at Netflix that the visionary director was able to truly push for “Mank” – and ensure it would be created in black and white as his father intended. Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. described this as, “a profound way to honor the memory of his father.”

If “Mank” is awarded best screenplay, it will be the first posthumous winner in the screenplay category since “Gone with the Wind,” in 1939.

“Mank” was almost a very different film. It was originally slated to be made in the 1990s by Polygram Filmed Entertainment (the studio behind American Werewolf in London, The Big Lebowski, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and many more.) Kevin Spacey was allegedly in talks for the lead (now played by Gary Oldman,) alongside Jodie foster as Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried.)

This deal eventually fell apart over a variety of issues, including Fincher’s dedication to keeping true to his father’s vision that the film be in black and white. Fincher stated: “Polygram got cold feet because of all kinds of truly stupid boilerplate stuff involving output deals in Central America. We would have had to have shot the film in color and then corrected it and do a black-and-white version. It completely fell apart.”

However, when Fincher brought “Mank” to Netflix, they had no hesitation about dropping millions in order to bring his vision to life. By this time he was one of the most respected directors in Hollywood:

“We didn’t have any anxiety about making it,” insists Scott Stuber, vice president of original film at Netflix. “Because it’s David Fincher. He’s one of the best there is, and we knew how long he’d worked on it and thought about it, as well as how personal a project it was to him. That excited us.”

Fincher got his start directing commercials and music videos. Some of the most iconic videos of the 80s and 90s were created by Fincher, including Madonna’s “Express Yourself,” and “Vogue,” and Aerosmith’s “Janie’s Got a Gun.” Fincher’s first debut as a film director was “Alien 3.” The film’s disappointing commercial success made it more difficult for Fincher to help his father pitch the script for “Mank” at that time.

However, the perfectionist filmmaker would go on to have tremendous financial and critical success for his films, such as: Fight Club, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl. Fincher has previously been nominated for best director for the films The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network, and is currently nominated for Mank.

His 2010 film “The Social Network” has been called a 21st Century analogue to “Citizen Kane” – but it wasn’t until he began working with Netflix that Fincher was able to push for “Mank” to be made, according to the script his father wrote.

Gary Oldman is nominated for best actor for his portrayal of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz in “Mank.” He has described Fincher’s process as, “meticulous. He’s looking for perfection.”

Oldman is no stranger to awards. He has previously been nominated for best actor for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” and won for his role in “Darkest Hour.” However he says Mank is special – even for him.

“It’s one of the few pictures I’ve done that is so transportive,” Oldman says. “It’s a luxurious thing to watch, even though I’m in it. I can get lost, it puts you in bit of a trance when you’re watching it. I’m amazed.”

Netflix gave Fincher a budget of $25,000,000 to create his passion project – but will they win an Academy award?

In the past Netflix films have done well at the Oscars, such as Icarus winning, Best Documentary Feature, Roma winning Best Cinematography, and Laura Dern taking Best winning Actress for Marriage Story. Last year, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman had ten Academy Award nominations – the same number as “Mank”– but it left with zero victories.

The film is nominated in an impressive ten categories, making it “the one to beat” – but when it comes to best picture, “Mank” faces stiff competition:

“The Father”

“Judas and the Black Messiah”

“Mank”

“Minari”

“Nomadland”

“Promising Young Woman”

“Sound of Metal”

"The Trial of the Chicago 7”

Sources: Deadline, USA Today, Mank, by Jack Fincher, Variety, Britannica, IndieWire, Netflix Life

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