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.
Now, the tea. The film has been sitting on the shelf for quite some time as Gibson and his Icon Productions were locked in a legal battle with Voltage Pictures. Gibson claimed that Voltage refused final cut privileges and denied the film’s director the opportunity to have five additional days of shooting. Gibson and Icon sued Voltage, but last June a judge ruled in favor of Voltage Pictures, meaning the cut of the film being released has not been approved by Gibson nor the film’s director Farhad Safina. As a result, the film’s director and co-writer is now listed as “P.B. Shemran”.
The trailer actually doesn’t look half-bad. Penn is doing his usual mumbling thing, but overall it looks fairly handsomely crafted and it’s honestly an engaging story. But given the lengths to which Gibson and the director went to alter the cut, one imagines this version of the film may not hold up as well when watched as a whole.
See for yourself in the Professor and the Madman trailer below. The film also stars Natalie Dormer, Jennifer Ehele, Jeremy Irvine, Eddie Marsan, Ioan Gruffudd, and Steve Coogan. A release date has not yet been set.
