Despite winning two Oscars in the last 10 years, because of the type of projects he makes, Sean Penn doesn’t always have the easiest of times getting the movies he’s interested in off the ground (it doesn’t help either that he has a tendency to bail before a movie goes into production), however he’s now eyeing a new film, which once again doesn’t scream commercial potential, but will probably get made if he signs on.
According to THR, he’s in talks to play literary editor Max Perkins in a biopic called Genius. Perkins was the fedora-wearing eccentric editor-in-chief at New York publishing house Scribner, where he oversaw the release of works by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. While Max Perkins worked with numerous big literary name, Genius will focus on his relationship with a young Tom Wolfe.
The film, based on A. Scott Berg’s National Book Award-winning 2008 biography, Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, has been in devlopment for several years, and has nearly got in front of the cameras several times, including once when Lawrence Kasdan was going to direct.
Now Bill Pohlad, the producer-financier behind River Road Entertainment, has decided to direct himself, making it the first thing he’s directed in 20 years (and even back then, it’s not like he scored any big hits). However he does have a good realtionship with Penn, as the two have worked together several times, including Pohlad producing and helping to finance the Penn directed Into The Wild, and producing two of Sean’s upcoming films, Fair Game and The Tree Of Life.
Penn is yet to commit to the film, but if he does, it looks likely Genius will finally get made.