'The Professor and the Madman' follows Professor James Murray (Mel Gibson) on his quest to compile the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the mid 19th century. A patient at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Dr William Minor, played by Sean Penn, contributes over 10,000 entries.
Natalie Dormer (Game of thrones), Ioan Gruffudd (Forever), Jeremy Irvine (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again), Steve Coogan (Stan & Ollie), Laurence Fox (Lewis) and Jennifer Ehle (The Miseducation of Cameron Post) co-star.
The film is based on Simon Winchester’s book The Surgeon of Crowthorne. Farhad Safinia directed it, having previously co-wrote Apocalypto with Gibson.
Late in the production, shooting came to a standstill when Gibson and Safinia insisted that certain scenes of the movie be shot in Oxford, England, instead of Trinity College Dublin. Nicolas Chartier, the CEO of Voltage, the production company behind the film, refused. He argued that the film was already over budget and behind schedule. Gibson and Safinia walked off the production, according to legal filings, after the conflict went unresolved.
Gibson’s company, Icon Productions, sued Voltage last year. The actor also sought to block Chartier from screening Voltage’s cut of the film for potential distributors. With the ruling falling in favour with Voltage, it is unlikely that either Safinia or Gibson will be helping in the film's marketing.
