Sean Penn may be teaming up with Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Biutiful, Babel). Just last week we learned that Iñárritu is attached to direct a true crime drama based on Jennifer Vogel’s memoir Flim-Flam Man: The True Story of My Father’s Counterfeit Life, and now it appears Penn is interested in the lead. Vulture reports that Penn was being courted for a supporting role in Iñárritu’s adaptation of The Revenant (that Leonardo DiCaprio has taken a liking to), but the actor was more interested in Flim-Flam Man (which may now be retitled Red Flag). It’s not hard to see why Penn was drawn to the project, as the lead would have him playing a career criminal who dabbled in arson, robbery, conspiracy to commit murder, and fraud before being arrested in one of the largest counterfeit bill seizures in US history in 1995. Hit the jump for more.

Having earned his leading man Javier Bardem an Oscar nom with 2010’s Biutiful, Mexican helmer Alejandro González Iñárritu is set to tackle another morally ambiguous father figure with his next film, an as-yet untitled adaptation of Jennifer Vogel’s 2005 memoir “Flim-Flam Man: The True Story of My Father’s Counterfeit Life”. The project, which will be backed by New Regency, already has a script from Fair Game scribe, Jez Butterworth.

The book centers on the author’s father, John Vogel, a career criminal who dabbled in arson, robbery, conspiracy to commit murder, and fraud before being arrested in one of the largest counterfeit bill seizures in US history in 1995. The meat of the account takes place after this arrest, when Vogel managed to escape custody, leading to a six-month manhunt and giving his daughter plenty of material for a kickass true crime book. Hit the jump for more, including a full synopsis.