‘Mank’ Trailer: Mank? Mank. Mank!

Imagine if the coronavirus pandemic had happened 15 or 20 years ago, in a time before streaming. Movie theaters would close — and the only replacement would be cable and home video. Imagine being trapped at the mercy of whatever was showing on TBS or what you could scrounge from the “Classics” section of Blockbuster Video. As dark as things are now, they could have been worse.

Thankfully we do have Netflix, Peacock, HBO Max, and the rest, who continue to release new films even as theaters remain closed in many parts of the country. In a different year, David Fincher’s Mank — based on the life of Herman Mankiewicz, the screenwriter of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane — would surely get an awards season release where it premiered in a handful of theaters and then slowly expanded to more locations before eventually winding up on Netflix. Instead, Mank premieres everywhere on December 4, both in the theaters that are open and on streaming.

The new trailer for the film makes it look like a beautiful consideration of classic Hollywood and a portrait of a very troubled artist. Watch it below:

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

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.

Mank premieres on Netflix and in select theaters on December 4. Mank!!!

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