Oscar Nominations 2021: The Snubs And Surprises
4. Snub: Jack Fincher's Original Screenplay For Mank
This is significant because of what it means for the film as a whole. Mank is the nominations leader at 10 bids, the closest to it is multiple films with six nominations. So, how does a film that clearly has support from all branches of the Academy miss out on an original screenplay nomination?
Penned by director David Fincher's late father Jack Fincher, Mank is a film centred around the making of one the most revered screenplays of all time and it fails to get nominated for the main thing it is focused on; screenwriting! If there is anything that spells doom for Mank's Best Picture chances, it is this.
The temptation to give Jack Fincher a posthumous nomination would have been great, and yet the Academy chose to nominate outliers Sound of Metal and Judas and the Black Messiah instead. It is a clear knock in their awards campaign that they may not be able to recover from. The last time a film managed to win Best Picture without a screenplay nomination was Titanic and Mank is no Titanic...