Sean Penn in Talks for THE PRONE GUNMAN

Penn’s name linked to action-thriller.

Heat Vision has word that Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn (‘Milk,’ ‘This Must Be the Place’) is in negotiations for ‘The Prone Gunman,’ an action-thriller adaptation of Jean-Patrick Manchette’s 2002 novel of the same name.

Adapted by Pete Travis (‘Dredd,’ ‘Vantage Point’), the story centres on Martin Terrier, “an international operative who is betrayed by the organization he works for and must go on the run in a relentless game of cat-and-mouse across Europe.”

Joel Silver and Andrew Rona will produce via Silver Pictures with StudioCanal serving as financier. The producers are eyeing the property as a potential franchise with Penn in the lead. A director has yet to be hired.

Penn will next be seen starring alongside Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, and Emma Stone in Ruben Fleischer’s period crime drama ‘Gangster Squad’ when it arrives in Irish cinemas January 2013.