Hollywood actor / philanthropist / gonzo journalist Sean Penn catching up with drug uber-kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman for a spot of chit-chat has already cemented itself as one of 2016’s most pants-on-head ridiculous stories, but the contents of said chat send the whole thing into overdrive.
Now, as then: WAT. Photo: Rolling Stone.
El Chapo reportedly teed up the exchange to negotiate details of a proposed biopic with Penn; although it’s likely the American drew law enforcement straight to the guy, going undercover to meet the drug lord was method as hell. That, combined literally every other aspect of this story, would make the proposed film a seriously ripper yarn.
At today’s Golden Globes, some (likely fuck-eyed) heavy-hitters on the entertainment side of the whole deal got to have their say on the possibility of tackling the story. Variety reports that fellow countryman Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – who, incidentally, mopped up for helming The Revenant – said he’d yet to read Penn’s piece in Rolling Stone, but he was dead keen to do so. Promising.
Brian Glazer of Imagine Entertainment – aka, Ron Howard’s pet project, which is responsible for gr8 flicks Rush, Children Of Men, and The Nutty Professor – went on record saying he’d “do anything with Sean Penn”, and that his people had heard Mexican actress / Penn’s intermediary Kate del Castillo was working on something with El Chapo.
Most importantly, Oscar Isaac said “it’s pretty cool” (
), that Penn nabbed “some incredible details about the story of this man” (
), and it’s “a fascinating story about a human experience.” (
)
Frankly, if that’s not enough of a confirmation from a newly-minted Hollywood kingmaker, cop this: Aziz Ansari totes wants his dad to play El Chapo, saying “there’s an ethnicity conflict but I’d love to see him in that film.” We can see it, tbh:
For the moment though, Guzman’s been chucked back in the Mexican slammer he escaped from last year. Perhaps his time there can work up some material for the impending sequel.
Source: Variety.
Photo: Steve Granitz / Mark Davis / John Shearer / Getty.
