‘The Professor & The Madman’ Trailer: Bearded Mel Gibson & Sean Penn Write The Dictionary

To trace the crazy history of behind-the-scenes turmoil with Mel Gibson’s upcoming film “The Professor & the Madman” would be an epic task not unlike the writing of the English dictionary. Suffice it to say, it’s a miracle in and of itself that ‘The Professor’ is even getting a release, but here we are, just over a month away.

READ MORE: Mel Gibson Loses Court Battle Over The Rights To ‘The Professor And The Madman’

The trailer for the film starts as you might imagine any film about the development of the English dictionary would begin, with a murder and a criminal trial. “The Professor & the Madman” follows the true story of two men (Gibson and Sean Penn, as the respective titular characters), who work together to do what was seemingly impossible – write the definitions, origins, and spellings of every English word.

The film stars Mel Gibson, Sean Penn, and Natalie Dormer.

“The Professor & The Madman” hits theaters and On Demand on May 10.

Here’s the (rather long) 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.