Mel Gibson and Sean Penn star in the drama, which was part-filmed in Dublin on an eight-week shoot beginning in September 2016.
Gibson plays James Murray, who oversaw the compilation of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the 19th century. Throughout the compilation, Murray receives over 10,000 entries from Dr. William Chester Minor (Sean Penn), an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane.
Directed by Farhad Safinia (Boss), ‘The Professor and the Madman’ is produced by Irish production company Fastnet Films and US-based Icon International. Fastnet Films recently oversaw production on ‘Black 47’, which was the top-grossing Irish film of 2018 and was the first Irish feature to break the €1 million mark at the Irish box office since ‘The Young Offenders’ in 2016.
Macdara Kelleher produced the project for Fastnet Films, with a script co-written by directr Safinia, Todd Komarnicki (Sully) and IFTA Lifetime recipient John Boorman (Queen & Country), based on a 1999 novel from Simon Winchester.
Irish talent involved in the project includes production designer Tom Conroy (‘Mammal’) and ‘Love & Friendship’ costume designer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh. Several Irish actors also feature in the film including Kieran O’Reilly and David Crowley.
A release date for ‘The Professor and The Madman’ is yet to be announced.