Circa last summer, Sean Penn was one of the actors (along with Leonardo DiCaprio) that were interested and circling an Alejandro González Iñárritu project called, “The Revenant” (good pedigree around this tale of survival for an 1820s fur trapper mauled by a bear; John Hillcoat and Christian Bale were a duo once interested in it as well).
Unfortunately, it never came to pass (or to be more precise, it’s on the backburner for now) and just last week, we heard news that the Mexican helmer was instead chasing a new project which was an adaptation of Jennifer Vogel‘s memoir “Flim-Flam Man: The True Story Of My Father’s Counterfeit Life,” that New Regency were backing.
Well, more word has arrived. According to Vulture, Penn and DiCaprio could have starred in “The Revenant” this summer, but Penn (who already starred in Iñárritu’s “21 Grams,” and would have taken a supporting role in that one) was more smitten with “Flim-Flam Man.” The story of a real-life bank robber, arsonist, fraudster, addict, $20 million counterfeiter and all around swindler — which could be retitled as “Red Flag” — is apparently the role Penn wants and we assume Iñárritu would be more than happy to work with the talented actor again (same goes for New Regency). Make it so already?
The good news: DiCaprio, who is instead taking Martin Scorsese‘s “The Wolf Of Wall Street” this summer, is still interested in “The Revenant” and, if all goes well, he could star in it next summer. Here’s to hoping on all fronts. DiCaprio and Scorsese are a good pair, but we always like it when folks shake things up. On the other hand a Penn/Iñárritu take two is right up our alley as well.