Josh Brolin and Sean Penn started out acting around the same time in the 1980s, however while Penn’s career took off pretty quickly, Brolin’s merely chugged along, with him only becoming a real star in the past couple of years, following No Country For Old Men and Milk (in which he co-starred with Penn). Well now now Brolin is becoming the new Sean Penn, with Variety reporting that he’s taking over a role that the Mystic River star gave up when he decided to take a sabbatical from acting following his marriage troubles.
Brolin has signed up star in Cartel, which will see him play a father who is desperate to protect his son after his wife is brutally murdered by a Mexican drug cartel. The film is inspired by a 1993 Italian movie about four policeman and their battle to guard a prosecutor who is trying to bring mob bosses to justice, although it sounds like a lot of changes have been made on its journey to Hollywood.
Universal is hoping to start filming the movie in January, with Asger Leth (Ghosts Of Cite Soleil) directing. Brolin will next be seen in the Wall Street sequel, Money Never Sleeps, as well as starring in the supernatural comic book western, Jonah Hex.