Nearly three decades after his assassination, a feature film about the life and death of Harvey Milk appears to finally be headed to the big screen.

Variety reports that Milk, the Gus Van Sant-directed biopic that has been competing with Bryan Singer's Harvey Milk project, The Mayor of Castro Street, has won the development showdown. Sean Penn will star as Harvey Milk, and Van Sant will begin filming from Dustin Lance Black's script in January.

Where this leaves Castro Street -- which producer Craig Zadan has had in development for 15 years -- is uncertain. Though Variety says Singer's still attached to direct, Christopher McQuarrie's script wasn't handed in before the strike deadline, so it's off-limits for now.

Milk will film in San Francisco, where Harvey Milk was elected to the city Board of Supervisors in 1977. The following year, he was assassinated by fellow boardmember Dan White during a rampage that also claimed the life of Mayor George Moscone.

Source: Variety