Although he’s taken part in just about every genre in the last three decades, Sean Penn is about to head into new territory for a possible future project. The Hollywood Reporter updates that the Mystic River star is being eyed for a potential action franchise from mega-producer Joel Silver, not exactly something you’d expect for the actor.
Based on Jean-Patrick Manchette‘s novel Prone Gunman, Penn would take the role of hired killer Martin Terrier, a man who simply wants out of the business to marry his childhood sweetheart. Instead, his company double-crosses him and he is forced to galavant around Europe to survive. Reports indicate a Peter Travis wrote the script, while other sources say Dredd‘s Pete Travis was actually attached to direct the film at one point, but producers still have yet to secure a helmer.
The project is also said to explore politics with a leftist slant, something Penn would connect with. I could certainly see him in this sort of role, even if its a bit out of his wheelhouse. The actor’s screen presence alone could make the thriller aspects believable and with his only confirmed upcoming project left to shoot is his Josh Brolin–starring survival movie Crazy for the Storm, perhaps he could fit this one in — especially considering its fully financed by Studiocanal.
Could you see Penn carrying his own action franchise?