Sean Penn will begin work on his portrayal of 1970s gay rights activist Harvey Milk in January, with Gus Van Sant directing from a script by Dustin Lance Black.

Variety announced Sunday that Gus Van Sant’s biopic about gay rights activist Harvey Milk for Focus Features will begin filming in January, exclusively in San Francisco. It was there that Milk moved to as an adult and where he became the first openly gay politician.

The film is based on Dustin Lance Black's script, which convinced Van Sant not that long ago to take on the project, in April, per the trade paper. Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen also took on producing duties in April, along with Groundswell CEO Michael London, who is producing and co-financing the pic.

Harvey Milk was born in 1930 in New York and moved to San Francisco in the early 1970s. He ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1973 and 1975, unsuccessfully, before being elected to office in 1977 and becoming the first openly gay official.

A year later, he and Mayor George Moscone were shot to death by city supervisor Dan White. White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to seven years and eight months, a sentence widely criticized as too lenient.

Producer Bruce Cohen was quoted by Variety as saying that a movie about Harvey Milk was long overdue. “It was crying out to be a movie,” he said.

A documentary film titled “The Times of Harvey Milk” received an Academy Award in 1984, but Van Sant’s pic will be the first feature film about the politician.

Van Sant’s previous directorial efforts include “My Own Private Idaho,” “Good Will Hunting” and “Finding Forrester.”

While Sean Penn has signed to portray Milk, there has been talk that Matt Damon could play the role of Dan White.

A parallel project is currently experiencing some problems, due to the writers’ strike. Variety reports that Warner Independent project “The Mayor of Castro Street” has Bryan Singer attached as director, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron as producers, and Christopher McQuarrie as scribe.

One main problem seems to be that McQuarrie’s script, though finished, was not turned in before the strike began.