Total Film Exclusive: David Fincher Discusses State of Hollywood
David Fincher has wanted to make Mank for a long time. The director has been trying to drum up interest in Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz since 1997 — when his screenwriter father Jack Finch (who was also a journalist and writer) writer) just finished the script.
"Unless you're making a blockbuster movie with a Happy Meal quality, nobody's interested," says Finch in Total Film's latest issue (which headlines the cover of "Mank"). . Yet after years of fighting for "Mank," the perfect opportunity arose when Netflix asked Fincher what he wanted to do next (the filmmaker , who has worked with the streaming giant on "House of Cards," "Love, Death and Robots and Psycho Hunter).
One of the great things about working with Netflix, Finch said, is that opening weekends aren't as stressful as releasing a movie through theatrical lines, and it's always there in the streaming platform's repertoire. "Writing a love letter to another movie on HBO Max is not a particularly smart business plan (Warner's streaming platform, and Citizen Kane is currently copyrighted on HBO Max)," he joked . But listen, if We only do things that seem smart, maybe only Marvel, Star Wars and Jurassic Park."
With "Mank" finally coming to Netflix this December, the film seems primed for awards season. The whole awards season PR, however, has been anathema to Finch, throwing cold water on his signature sarcasm and wit: "Look, the only reason we have this kind of PR is for people who like to change audience expectations in their behavior. People lack imagination," he said.
"There are really only two seasons of movies: 'Summer of Spandex' and 'Winter of Distress'. You're going to make a movie in one of the two seasons. If you miss it, you're in one of the other two seasons , but these two seasons are nominally a dump. Does that make sense?"
Of course, no director is at work these days with a more savvy grasp of the industry's intrigue, after all Fincher endured ordealed in his debut Alien 3, but has since relied on The Social Network, Fight Club and Gone Lover, he has received rave reviews - both from critics and from the film awards agencies.
"I'm not just a jerk who's tired of it all," he concluded. "I'm a jerk who's been through it firsthand and is sick of it all."
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