Sean Penn is moving from acting to directing for his next project, and the subject matter is about as timely as it gets. Penn has quietly set up a film about a real-life police officer caught up in the January 6th Capitol riots, and Bradley Cooper is in talks to star in the lead role. According to Deadline, there is no deal yet.
Penn scripted the film himself and will also direct. Warner Bros has acquired it in a negative pickup, re-teaming Penn with the studio behind his most recent film, One Battle After Another, which earned him his third Oscar. Penn will produce alongside John Ira Palmer and John Wildermuth under their Projected Picture Works banner. CAA Media Finance negotiated the deal on behalf of the producers.
The currently untitled film has been described as an unexpected story about friendship. It focuses on the early life of a cop who later becomes caught up in the Capitol attack, and the project is understood to have buy-in from its real-life subject, though that person's identity is being kept under wraps for now.
The film is not being framed strictly as a January 6th movie. The focus is on the subject's earlier journey and the relationships he built along the way. Nonetheless, the political terrain surrounding the project is anything but neutral, and Deadline called it a commendable commitment by Warner Bros given the divisive climate and the studio's potential new ownership situation.
Penn has a history with the subject matter. He previously attended a public hearing of the House select committee investigating the 2021 insurrection, saying at the time he was there as "just another citizen" to see if justice would be served. He sat alongside several law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol that day, and was seen speaking with Michael Fanone, the former Washington D.C. police officer who was severely injured during the attack.
Fanone served as a cop from 2001 until his retirement in 2021 and wrote a book called Hold The Line, in which he detailed multiple unlikely friendships. Among them was a friendship with a Black transgender sex worker named Leslie, whom he brought to meet younger officers to foster understanding of the diverse communities they swore to protect, and with folk icon Joan Baez, stemming from a portrait she painted of him defending the Capitol. Sources would not confirm whether Fanone is the subject of the film.
Cooper's involvement comes with a scheduling caveat. Production is being targeted for mid-2027 given his commitments on the next Oceans film.
