*Courtesy of John Nacion/Variety / Getty.*

Sean Penn has written and will direct an untitled film about the early life of a police officer who later became involved in the January 6 Capitol riots. Bradley Cooper is in talks to star, though no deal has been finalized.

Warner Bros., which backed ‘One Battle After Another,’ has acquired the project as a negative pickup. Penn will produce with John Ira Palmer and John Wildermuth under their Projected Picture Works banner.

Production is being targeted for mid-2027, due to Cooper’s commitment to the next ‘Ocean’s’ movie.

The film is being described as an unexpected story about friendship rather than a straightforward January 6 drama. It is based on a real-life officer connected to the Capitol attack, with the subject understood to be supportive of the project. Their identity is being kept under wraps.

The story will focus on the officer’s early life and the path that eventually led many to view him as an American hero. Still, given the political sensitivity of January 6, Warner Bros.’ commitment marks a notable move, especially as the studio continues to back bold original material.

Penn previously attended a public hearing of the House select committee investigating the 2021 insurrection, saying he was there as “just another citizen” to see whether justice would be served. He sat near several officers who defended the Capitol, including former Washington, D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, who was severely injured during the attack.

Sources would not confirm whether Fanone is the film’s subject, though the resemblance between him and Cooper is hard to miss. Fanone’s own story is rich with dramatic potential: he served as a police officer from 2001 until his 2021 retirement, was once a Trump supporter, joined the Capitol Police after 9/11, and later became a vocal critic of the President. In his memoir Hold The Line, he also wrote about unlikely friendships, including with a Black transgender sex worker named Leslie and folk singer Joan Baez.

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