The project is based on Penn’s adaptation of a best-selling book by Jon Krakauer. Hirsch will play Christopher McCandless, who graduates from college in 1992 and chooses to live in the wilds of Alaska. He is found dead four months later in a bus in a campground.
Sean Penn previously directed the 2001 film The Pledge. He recently starred in The Interpretor, and will be seen soon in All the King’s Men. Hirsch will soon be seen along with Justin Timberlake in the film Alpha Dog.