Sean Penn To Become Action Franchise Star With ‘Prone Gunman’
It seems like just about every aging actor is angling for their own action franchise nowadays, whether it’s the geriatric warriors of theExpendablesandRedfilms, Liam Neeson in theTakenmovies, Bruce Willis in the ongoingDie Hardsaga, or Kevin Costner with the upcomingJack Ryan reboot. But we probably wouldn’t have guessed thatSean Pennwould be one of them.
Penn has entered negotiations forProne Gunman, an action thriller envisioned as the first in a potential series. This is still Penn we’re talking about, however, soProne Gunmanisn’t just another mindless pulse-pounder. It’s an adaptation of a novel byJean-Patrick Manchette, a French noir writer with an interest in leftist politics and the human condition. More details after the jump.
As thriller premises go, that’s a fairly generic one, but it sounds like this particular project will be somewhat more thoughtful in its approach.THRdescribes Manchette’s books as “existentialist and involving explorations of politics as well as the human condition. (If the exploration was being done by a relentless killing machine.)” Aside from his celebrated original writing, Manchette’s accomplishments include the acclaimed French translation of Alan Moore’sWatchmen, another boundary-pushing genre work.
A start date forProne Gunmanhas not been announced. Penn’s got plenty to keep him busy in the upcoming months, but not so much that fitting this movie in would be undoable. Penn next stars inThe Gangster Squad, which was due out this year before Warner Bros. pushed it to January, and is next set to directCrazy For The Stormstarring Josh Brolin.
