Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
It looks like Michael Fassbender, still rolling in his INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS success, is taking his acting to the next level by starring in the drama GENIUS. The film already has Sean Penn attached to star as the great literary agent Max Perkins, who influenced and coached many of the 21st century’s greatest authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Wolfe. Presumably, Fassbender will play Thomas Wolfe, who fought constantly with Perkins over the length and content of his work. Bill Pohlad is set to direct the film, assuming everything is able to come together and get started. The film has tried before with Joaquin Phoenix and Lawrence Kasdan involved, but this time it seems like Penn is ready to make it, even though he technically hasn’t signed on the dotted line yet.
It seems there’s a lot of excitement revolving around this film given the big names attached, but I haven’t heard anything about it that gets me excited. Movies about authors are not typically interesting as watching someone type something or listening to them talk about their writing is not usually thrilling fodder. But maybe Pohlad has something for us and the script, written by GLADIATOR scribe John Logan has been popular for a while.