Sean Penn is set to direct Vince Vaughn, William Hurt and Catherine Keener in the same movie, Into the Wild, a film which suggests a lonely and harrowing story. Penn also wrote the screenplay from the original novel.

From Time Out Movie Blog:

The film tells the tale of Christopher McCandless, a high school graduate who abandoned his material possessions in 1992 and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. His dead body was found four months later in an abandoned bus at a remote campsite.

I enjoy Penn's movies, acted or directed, and this sounds like a perfect project for him. It makes me think of the character from The Assassination of Richard Nixon where he gave a stunning performance, and it's a shame that we won't be seeing him lead this film.

Interesting choice in Vaughn as well, will this mark a strong serious role for him?