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Sean Penn to Direct Jan. 6 Officer Film, Cooper Negotiating

6/17/2026

41 5 Full Breakdown

Summary

Sean Penn's Jan-6 Film

Sean Penn will write, direct and produce a Warner Bros. film about a police officer present at Jan. 6.
Bradley Cooper is in talks to play the officer, but his next Ocean’s film pushes production to mid-2027.
Warner Bros. acquired the film as a negative pickup; John Ira Palmer and John Wildermuth produce; it is billed as a friendship story about the officer’s early life, with his identity secret and approved.

Summary

Pentagon hires rioter

Pentagon hired a “qualified, patriotic” Jan. 6 rioter for a counterterrorism role.
Sean Penn called U.S. President Donald Trump an “enemy of compassion” at the 2022 hearing.
Penn won his third Oscar for playing Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, then skipped the ceremony to visit Ukraine.
Six Jan. 6 rioters were released on President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration day, prompting a DOJ fund that may pay them.

Summary

Sean Penn Returns

The untitled film will be the first Hollywood studio feature tied to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The DOJ cleared Paramount’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, leaving the film’s fate uncertain.
Paramount head David Ellison, who hosted a Trump dinner, could affect the project.
Sean Penn returns after a five-year directing gap while Cooper, who recently directed Is This Thing On?, is eyed for the lead.

History

Historical Context

The 1972 Watergate break-in, uncovered by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, led the Senate Watergate Committee to hold 197-day hearings in 1973 that attracted a 60 percent television audience and spurred a $20 million investigative budget. Those televised probes reshaped public distrust of authority, a legacy Warner Bros. now taps for Sean Penn’s Jan. 6 film.

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Sean Penn's Jan-6 Film

Sean Penn will write, direct and produce a Warner Bros. film about a police officer present at Jan. 6.
Bradley Cooper is in talks to play the officer, but his next Ocean’s film pushes production to mid-2027.
Warner Bros. acquired the film as a negative pickup; John Ira Palmer and John Wildermuth produce; it is billed as a friendship story about the officer’s early life, with his identity secret and approved.

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