David Farnor | On 14, Nov 2020

David Fincher has a four-year exclusive deal in place with Netflix, the director has revealed.

Fincher is about to drop Mank, first feature since 2014’s Gone Girl, on the streaming service. Based on a script by Fincher’s late father, Jack, it sees 1930s Hollywood 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. Starring Gary Oldman, Tom Burke, Amanda Seyfried and Lily Collins, the movie is already considered one of the frontrunners in this year’s awards race. (Our review is on the way shortly, but you can watch the trailer here.)

This, of course, isn’t the first time Fincher has worked with Netflix: he’s produced the animated anthology show Love, Death and Robots, and also was at the fore of psychological thriller Mindhunter. In an interview last month, he revealed that Season 3 of Mindhunter is no longer on the cards for either him or Netflix. Now, in an interview with French magazine Premiere, he’s gone into more detail about his relationship with the streamer, revealing that he’s signed an exclusive deal that will run for another four years.

“At the end of Mindhunter Season 2, I was completely done,” he told Premiere. “I went to see Ted Sarandos and Cindy Holland [the Netflix program directors] to say, ‘Look, I don’t see myself leaving for two years on a third season; I’d rather spend a year on a smaller project, have the luxury of spending six months of preproduction designing two hours of content rather than ten…’ They said, ‘OK, what’s the matter?’ I gave them Mank’s script, without really believing it. But they were up for it. I said, ‘When do we start?'”

He went to add that he has “an exclusive contract with them for another four years”.

“Depending on Mank’s reception, I’m either going to go sheepishly and ask them what I can do to redeem myself, or present myself with the attitude of the arrogant asshole that will demand to make more films in black and white,” he added, jokingly. “I’m here to deliver ‘content’ to them – whatever that word means – likely to bring them spectators, in my small sphere of influence.”

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