Mel Gibson. Sean Penn. Starring together in a film about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary? Pardon us while we double and then triple check that this isn't some spoof pitch by South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone, but you can go ahead and read the news about new drama The Professor And The Madman.
Actually, it's all true; and this project is one that Gibson has wanted to make for years, ever since he acquired the rights to Simon Winchester's book back in 1998. He's aboard to play Professor James Murray, who began compiling the OED in 1857, kicking off one of the most ambitious projects in history. Penn is in negotiations to be Dr W.C. Minor, who submitted more than 10,000 entries while also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane. Truth: truly stranger than fiction at times.
While the man behind Braveheart and Apocalypto had intended to direct, he's now handed that job off to Farhad Safinia, who wrote the latter and has been working on a new draft of the script. Hurt Locker production company Voltage Pictures is backing the film and will be selling distribution rights at the Toronto Film Festival. Can't wait to hear the reactions to this one...