The Professor And The Madman — International Trailer

added: Mon, Mar 11th '19

Mel Gibson stars opposite Sean Penn in this historical drama about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1857.

"The Professor And The Madman" -- which was shot back in 2016 and have since been embroiled in a legal dispute between Gibson's film company Icon Productions and Oscar-winning "Hurt Locker" producer Nicolas Chartier's distribution company Voltage Pictures -- tells the remarkable true story of how 19th-century Scottish Professor James Murray (Mel Gibson) enlisted the help of W.C. Minor (Sean Penn), a brilliant American doctor who at the time was deemed criminally insane and serving a life sentence for murder, to compile a detailed and comprehensive list of definitions for what would become the world's leading and most revered reference book, the Oxford English Dictionary.

Farhad Safinia, the writer of Gibson's acclaimed Mayan historical thriller "Apocalypto" and creator of the short-lived Kelsey Grammer series "Boss," directed and co-wrote the film, which is based on the book of the same name by Simon Winchester.

Due to production issues and disputes with producers that have since turned into a bitter lawsuit, Safinia, who did not approve of the film's final cut, has taken his name off the movie, which would've been his feature directorial debut.

Co-starring Steve Coogan, Eddie Marsan, Natalie Dormer, David O'Hara, and Stephen Dillane, "The Professor And The Madman" doesn't have an official U.S. release date, as of yet, but is being released in international markets this month. Watch the film's official international trailer, above.

synopsis:
Based on the worldwide best-selling novel by Simon Winchester, THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN is an extraordinary true tale of madness, genius, and obsession about two remarkable men who created history with the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary.

The compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary began in 1857 and was one of the most ambitious, and revolutionary projects ever undertaken. Professor James Murray (Mel Gibson) took on the challenge of creating the most comprehensive dictionary ever compiled, but knew that it would take him and his team over a century to compile all known definitions. However, by "crowd sourcing" the work, that is, by enlisting definitions from people all over the world, the dictionary could be compiled in mere decades.

As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor Murray, discovered that one man, Dr. W.C. Minor (Sean Penn), had submitted more than ten thousand words. When the committee insisted on honoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was a convicted murderer and being held at an asylum for the criminally insane.

directed by P.B. Shemran (aka Farhad Safinia)

starring Mel Gibson, Sean Penn, Natalie Dormer, Steve Coogan, Eddie Marsan, David O'Hara, Stephen Dillane, Jennifer Ehle, Ioan Gruffudd, Jeremy Irvine, Brendan Patricks

release date 2019

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The Professor And The Madman