Sean Penn Gears Up For Project On January 6th Riots

Just months after his One Battle After Another Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor, Sean Penn is firmly fixing his sights on a new project: a yet untitled movie about the early life of a cop who gets caught up in the infamous January 6th riots at the U.S Capitol.

Deadline has reported that Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, American Sniper) is in talks as the frontrunner for the lead role, but this is not yet confirmed. Cooper and Penn have previously starred together in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2021 film Licorice Pizza.

Based on the true story of one of the cops – whose identity remains under wraps for now – Penn’s new project is described as an unexpected story about friendship, which follows the unknown cop’s early life, before becoming an American hero to many during the 2021 Capitol riots. The movie will be distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures, with Penn writing, directing, and producing the film. John Ira Palmer and John Wildermuth are set to co-produce.

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Penn is an outspoken political and social activist. His engagement in political activism led him to attend a public hearing of the House select committee investigating the 2021 insurrection, observing as “just another citizen”. It comes as no surprise, then, that the events of January 6th 2021, have influenced Penn’s next directorial project.

Filming is said to begin in mid-2027 once Cooper has wrapped the next Ocean’s movie, a prequel to Steven Soderbergh’s major 2001 hit Ocean’s Eleven, which he directs and co-stars with Margot Robbie.