It’s been a few months since we heard anything about one of Sucker Punch director Zack Snyder’s side projects, kidnap drama The Last Photograph. But now it appears that the script is attracting some real interest, with Sean Penn circling one of the lead roles.

Christian Bale was rumoured to be involved last July, and though his representatives were quick to deny that he was actually signing on, it would seem he’s now locked in to play a war correspondent who is the only survivor of an attack of a group of Americans in Afghanistan.

If he jumps aboard, Penn will play a retired special ops soldier looking to track down and rescue a kidnapped family member and the two work together, since Bale can identify the villains. Their journey is tough and perilous and they face both the hostile local tribes and dismissive attitudes from US diplomats in the region.

There have been changes behind the scenes since the film last pushed its head above the development battlements, too – original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo director Niels Arden Oplev is now attached to direct and the movie is shifting production homes from Warner Bros. to Joel Silver’s Dark Castle company. Which means Warners would still be involved, but that Silver, Snyder and wife Deborah will be the ones drumming up the cash and getting the thing made. With Bale attached and Penn interested, we doubt they’ll have to worry too much.

And the most interesting titbit in Deadline’s story? Mention of Penn being courted to appear in Snyder’s Superman: Man of Steel, which he apparently turned down. Think he was a choice for Papa Kent? Or Zod? Or even Perry White?