PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN is a movie I'm actually really excited about. As someone who loves reading and linguistics, it's cool to see that there will be a movie actually documenting the creation of the dictionary. While that might sound boring to some people, the film has garnered some talent around it, so there's hopefully something to it. The subtitle of the book that it's based on is also A TALE OF MURDER, INSANITY, AND THE CREATION OF THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, so that should tell you there's going to more to it than people sitting around writing.
Based on a true story, the film is set in 1857 and stars Mel Gibson as Professor James Murray, who is the one compiling the Oxford Dictionary, and Sean Penn as a patient at an insane asylum who sends over 10,000 entries. I think there's going to be a bit of a buddy-cop dynamic here, but instead of working to take down drug dealers, they'll be working to take down illiteracy. One's by-the-book, the other's a loose cannon. I already like this.
Natalie Dormer, of GAME OF THRONES and HUNGER GAMES fame, has also joined the cast. She'll be playing, according to THR:
a widow whose husband was killed by Penn and whose family he wants to help. A complicated romance ensues.
The plot thickens!
What else would make a great movie? THESAURUS: A TALE OF INTRIGUE AND EXPLOSIONS? You never know.