THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN Trailer Experience the new THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN trailer! The film, directed by Farhad Safinia, stars Sean Penn, Mel Gibson, Natalie Dormer, Jennifer Ehele, Jeremy Irvine, Eddie Marsan, Ioan Gruffudd, and Steve Coogan. THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN will be released in theaters on the US in a date TBD. Professor James Murray begins work compiling words for the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the mid 19th century, and receives over 10,000 entries from a patient at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Dr. William Minor.