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Sean Penn to Discover 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' with Ben Stiller

by Ben Pearson
April 23, 2012
Source: Deadline

After winning an Academy Award for his performance in 2008's Milk, Sean Penn has been relatively quiet on the movie scene. He appeared in Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life and dressed in drag for an indie called This Must Be The Place, but soon the actor will make his return to big budget filmmaking with this fall's L.A.-based Gangster Squad for Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer. Now, Deadline reports that Penn's found a likely contender for a follow-up project, as he is in negotiations for a small but important supporting role in Ben Stiller's upcoming remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. More below!

This remake of Walter Mitty has had quite the tumultuous path to the big screen, with names like Steven Spielberg and Gore Verbinski in talks to direct at various points, with people like Jim Carrey and Sacha Baron Cohen in talks for the starring role. But Ben Stiller liked a new draft of the script written by Steve Conrad, so the multi-talented actor signed on to star and make this his next directorial effort after 2008's hilarious Tropic Thunder. He'll play the title character, a timid photo developer who embarks on an adventure to retrieve a missing film negative.

Sean Penn doesn't exactly fit in with other previously announced, and comedically inclined cast members Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, and Patton Oswalt, but perhaps Stiller can do for Penn what he did for Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder by allowing an actor who oftentimes takes himself too seriously to let loose a little. No word yet on what Penn's role would be, but filming should begin soon and we hope to hear more soon.

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