Sean Penn is to direct a movie about a cop caught up in the January 6 Capitol riots.
The One Battle After Another star has written a script for the film, which will be made by Warner Bros., while Silver Linings Playbook actor Bradley Cooper is in talks for the lead role, though hasn’t yet made a deal.
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Sean will also produce with John Ira Palmer and John Wildermuth under their Projected Picture Works banner. CAA Media Finance negotiated the WB deal on behalf of the producers.
The movie is not expected to start production until mid-2027 because of Bradley’s commitment to directing the upcoming next movie in the Ocean’s franchise.
According to Deadline, the project is an unexpected story about friendship, and while the real-life cop depicted in the story is said to be supporting the venture, their identity is currently being kept under wraps.
The focus in the film will be the officer’s early journey which led him on the path to becoming an American hero to many.
Outspoken star Sean previously attended a public hearing of the House select committee who were investigating the 2021 insurrection alongside several law enforcement officers. At the time, he described himself as “just another citizen” there to observe if justice would be served.
Among the people he was seen speaking to at the hearing was Michael Fanone, a former Washington D.C. cop who was severely injured on the day.
Although sources wouldn’t confirm if Fanone is the subject of the film, he, like Bradley, has Italian heritage.
He served as a cop from 2001 following the September 11 terrorist attacks and was a Donald Trump supporter before becoming disillusioned with the president.
He wrote a book called Hold the Line, in which he details several unlikely friendships, including a Black transgender sex worker named Leslie, who he took to meet younger officers to help them understand the diverse communities they swore to protect, and folk legend Joan Baez, who he befriended after she painted a portrait of him defending the Capitol.
Actor-and-director Sean previously warned he fears Trump is out to “destroy the world”.
Speaking to Jim Acosta on the journalist’s self-titled podcast, he said: “Before [Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele] gets to that point where he’s dealing with another leader, we should consider worst-case scenarios.
“I do think it’s a reasonable theory that Donald Trump is not unlike the spouse of someone who leaves him, perhaps for another, who then murders their former partner, because if they can’t have her, nobody can.
“I think Donald Trump, in his solipsism, may have that relationship with the world, and that this destruction is in part a power play, and also a literal intention of his final out.”
Trump has previously hinted at attempting to defy the constitution and run for a third term as president, and the 65-year-old star doesn’t think there will be positive consequences.
Asked about the possibility of a third term, he said: “I think he might try to destroy the world before he ages out of life.”
