Universal Pictures has added the incredibly busy Josh Brolin to the cast of Cartel, in a role that was originally intended to go to Sean Penn before the latter decided to leave the film for a personal retreat from the movie business. Cartel, which begins filming this coming January in Mexico City, will be directed by Asger Leth, who previously directed Ghosts of Cite Soleil, a documentary which explored the gritty underbelly of Haitian gang life.

According to Variety, “Brolin will play a man on a mission to protect his son after his wife is brutally murdered in the gritty world of Mexican drug cartels.” Sounds like the premise of a lot of films in the works right now, but certainly a role that Brolin is mighty capable of handling.

The film is being produced by Brian Grazer, Robert Stone and Webster Stone. Brolin will also be seen in the upcoming Jonah Hex and Oliver Stone’s Wall Street sequel.

Sean Penn wants to go home.

Sean Penn, acclaimed actor and recent Oscar winner for his performance in Milk, decided to throw the career on pause for a moment and go back home for awhile. Dropping out of two high profile movies, Cartel and The Three Stooges, his personal life will be in peace but these projects will not. The first of the two projects, The Three Stooges, is a Farrelly brothers piece that has been in development for years and got off the ground big time when they nabbed their cast in late March. Now with the sudden loss of one of their main actors, and the oncoming filming date set for the end of the summer, the Farrelly brothers must scramble to fill up the slot of stooge Larry in time or fear for loosing other actors due to production push.

The second flick to hit the breaks is Asger Leth’s Cartel, a crime drama that follows a man who journeys to protect his son after his wife is murdered by Mexican drug cartels (The Hollywood Reporter). Now that Penn jumped off the feature, Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures are on the hunt for another lead.