SEAN PENN TO DIRECT JANUARY 6 DRAMA STARRING BRADLEY COOPER

Sean Penn will direct and write a new drama film centred on the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. Bradley Cooper is in talks to star in the untitled project, which Penn has described as a passion project. The film will follow a police officer who became caught up in the violent insurrection. Penn will also serve as writer alongside his directorial role.

The drama has been characterised as an unexpected story about friendship and will be made in collaboration with the real-life subject at its centre, whose identity remains undisclosed. Penn attended a House committee hearing about the January 6 events in 2022, stating he was present as an observer. Cooper has received twelve Oscar nominations across his career and recently appeared in the comedy Is This Thing On?, which he also directed. Penn won his second Academy Award for his performance in Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another, a film for which he was absent from the ceremony as he was in Ukraine.

The project joins other films examining the Capitol riot and its wider context. Aaron Sorkin is developing The Social Reckoning, described as a Facebook sequel that will examine social media's role in the events of January 6. Penn's film marks his return to the director's chair with a project grounded in documented historical events.