Amanda Seyfried Joins David Fincher's 'Mank' for Netflix

LOS ANGELES - Amanda Seyfried is joining “Mank,” David Fincher’s newest film on Netflix which follows the story of “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz which features Gary Oldman in the title role. The cast includes Lily Collins, Charles Dance, Tuppence Middleton, Arliss Howard, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jamie McShane, Joseph Cross, Sam Troughton, Toby Leonard Moore, Tom Burke, and Tom Pelphrey. “Mank” is reportedly based upon a script by Fincher’s late father, Jack, who wrote it in 2003, just prior to his death. According to Variety, the story will follow Mankiewicz’s development of the script for “Citizen Kane” which would ultimately be considered among the best films of all time and established director Orson Welles as one of Hollywood's leading directors. Despite the “Citizen Kane’s” success, only the script earned an Oscar out of nine nominations in 1940.

Among the controversies about Citizen Kane has been the authorship of the screenplay. Welles conceived the project with screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, who was writing radio plays for Welles's CBS Radio series, "The Campbell Playhouse." Mankiewicz based the original story on the life of famed newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, whom he knew socially and came to hate after a falling out with him.