Recommendations of the Editorial team
If he can get it done, Sean Penn plans to direct a biopic about the early life of a police officer who was part of the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. Bradley Cooper is set to play the cop, Variety reports. Deadline, which first published the story, writes that the officer was “drawn into” the unrest – but leaves open which side of the barricade he was on. Since Penn is involved, it is reasonable to assume that the film will be designed as a reckoning with President Trump. “Deadline” Still describes the script as “an unexpected story about friendship” – not an explicit film about January 6th.
The catch with the as-yet-untitled project: It’s tied to Warner Bros., which is currently in talks with Paramount – a company with close ties to the White House. The Justice Department recently approved Paramount’s takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount President David Ellison hosted a dinner for the Trumps in April and attended the president’s birthday UFC fight, which Paramount Plus broadcast. Penn, as Variety notes, called the president an “enemy of humanity.”
Penn is producing the film alongside John Ira Palmer and John Wildermuth. If the Paramount merger doesn’t derail the project, production could begin as early as mid-2027, according to “Variety” – Cooper is scheduled to star in a new “Ocean’s” film by then.
Fanone and January 6th
Deadline reports that Penn watched the House public hearing on the insurrection, where several officials who defended the Capitol testified. Among them was Michael Fanone, who was badly beaten by rioters. It has not yet been revealed who the real-life model for Penn’s script is.
Penn’s directing credits include the hit film “Into the Wild,” as well as “Flag Day” (about a man who turns to crime for his daughter), “The Last Face” (about volunteers coming together in the midst of conflict in Africa) and “Superpower” (a documentary about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, originally produced as a Paramount Plus original). He also directed a segment of the anthology film “September 11.” Penn has won three Oscars in acting categories, most recently for his portrayal of an overly bigoted cop in “One Battle After Another.” However, he skipped the Oscars – he said groups of more than eight people caused him “fear and terror”.
Penn is also rumored to be working on a film about journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which the actor believes is “by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia [Mohammed bin Salman] was murdered,” as the “Hollywood Reporter” reports. Trump and his administration rejected that assessment – even though the CIA came to exactly that conclusion in 2018.