Sean Penn may have starred in several more dramatic pictures of late — The Tree of Life, Gangster Squad and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, for instance — but for the actor’s next outing, the Academy award winner is set to go full Liam Nesson. That’s because Penn’s next venture will be headlining Pierre Morel’s The Gunman, which recently debuted an explosive new trailer.
We reference Liam Nesson’s foray into the action genre because Morel just so happens to be the director behind Taken, though going off of this latest clip, it appears as though The Gunman is venturing down a considerably different path. For the film, Penn will play the part of James Terrier, a former military ops specialist suffering from PTSD who sets out to clear his name.
Perhaps what separates The Gunman from its generic action contemporaries is the movie’s eye-catching cast, with Penn being joined by the likes of Javier Bardem, Idris Elba, Ray Winstone and Mark Rylance.
Sean Penn will be seen kicking ass and taking names once more when The Gunman shoots into theaters on March 20. For now, you can check out the detailed synopsis below.
In THE GUNMAN, Sean Penn stars as a former special forces soldier and military contractor suffering from PTSD. He tries to reconnect with his long time love, but first must go on the run from London to Barcelona and across Europe in order to clear his name. The film also stars Javier Bardem, Idris Elba, Ray Winstone, Mark Rylance and Jasmine Trinca.
Based on Jean-Patrick Manchette’s novel The Prone Gunman, THE GUNMAN was directed by Pierre Morel (Taken, The Transporter franchise). The film was produced by Joel Silver, Andrew Rona and Sean Penn and executive produced by Adrian Guerra and Peter McAleese.