Sean Penn is taking an undetermined sabbatical for possibly as much as a year to focus on his family according to Variety.
That means he has bowed out of two films: Cartel and The Three Stooges.
I was looking forward to seeing him as Joe in The Three Stooges. The studio might wait for Penn to return from his long holiday. Cartel is pretty much a cut-and-dried type story we see at least once a year in the movie theaters. The studio is making a list to cast the part, so production can start this fall.
Apparently, Penn’s decision caught the studios by surprise, but I bet his wife, Robin Wright, is happy.
Penn has two films in the can that are to be released next year: Fair Game and The Tree of Life.
Sean Penn and Paolo Sorrentino made a promise to each other to work together on This Must Be the Place. Now, Penn will star and Sorrentino will direct. The movie marks the first English-language feature of Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, who is Un Certain Regard jury prexy at Cannes.
According to Variety, Penn would play a wealthy rock star that becomes bored in his retirement and decides to take on the quest of finding his father’s executioner, an ex-Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the U.S.
The script was co-written by Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello.
Penn has other film commitments that include The Three Stooges, Cartel and Fair Game. Fair Game production has just gotten underway.
MGM Studio and the Farrelly brothers have closed Sean Penn to play Larry, and negotiations are underway with Jim Carrey to play Curly, with the actor already making plans to gain 40 pounds to approximate the physical dimensions of Jerome “Curly” Howard.
The studio is knocking on Benicio Del Toro head to play Moe.
What am I talking about? The Three Stooges! With all three actors, MGM and the Farrelly brothers have pulled off a coupe.
As reported here in November, the film is not a biopic, but rather a comedy built around the antics of the three characters that Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Howard played in the Columbia Pictures shorts.
Production starts in early fall for a release sometime in 2010. The Farrellys also wrote the script.
Last time Penn was in a comedy was 1989’s We’re No Angels. It’s a good turn for Penn, rather refreshing, I’d say.
According to Variety, the Farrellys have long had their eyes on Del Toro to play Moe. Del Toro showed his comedic timing in Snatch.
It’s no surprise that Carrey is to play Curly. Howard established the character as a seminal physical comedian, from the first time he appeared in the first Stooges short in 1934 until he suffered a stroke on the set in 1946.
I just posted earlier today that Sean Penn is thinking about starring in the movie Cartel.
I just found out that hot Spanish actor, Javier Bardem, is also taking a look at a role in the same film. Rafael Castillo, a wealthy but righteous DA, who wants to put the cartels away. Castillo shunned his rich family for the law.
It will be interesting to see how the casting of Cartel plays out.
Sean Penn is showing an interest in a drama for Universal Pictures called Cartel, which Asger Leth is set to direct.The story, penned by Peter Craig, follows Ed Marker as he journeys to protect his son after his wife is brutally murdered in the disturbing world of Mexican cartels.
The drama stems from a remake concept of 1993 Italian film La scorta, which follows four cops who struggle to guard a special prosecutor trying to bring mob bosses to justice.
This film marks Leth’s dramatic feature directing debut. According to Variety, he previously won a DGA Award for directing the 2006 documentary Ghosts of Cite Soleil.
The plan is to get the picture into production by summer. Once Penn is signed on to star, the production date goes on the calendar.
Very recent Oscar winner Sean Penn is in talks to play Ambassador Joseph Wilson for the movie Fair Game, the drama about the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. Naomi Watts is already set to star as the CIA agent with director Doug Liman (Mrs. and Mrs. Smith.)
According to Variety, Ambassador Wilson watched his wife’s CIA status become compromised after he wrote op-ed columns that accused the Bush Administration of manipulating intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq.
The movie will be based on Plame Wilson’s memoir.
As the headlines reported, Plame Wilson left the CIA in 2005 and she and her husband filed a civil suit against Vice President Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Cheney’s ex-chief of staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Rove and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage admitted they leaked her agency status to journalists. Yet, Libby was convicted of lying to a federal grand jury about his role in compromising her covert status, according to Variety.
Even though a lot of hype is coming from the media on SAG’s ensemble award to Slumdog Millionaire on Sunday night, we mustn’t let it go unnoticed that they also handed out awards to Sean Penn for playing activist Harvey Milk in Milk and Meryl Streep for her performance as a fiercely certain nun in Doubt.
The late and multi-talented actor Heath Ledger won supporting role as the joker in The Dark Knight and the ever so vibrant, talented Kate Winslet for her appearance as a German woman harboring secrets in The Reader.
As for television it appears to be cookie cutter wins from the Golden Globe with NBC’s “30 Rock” and HBO’s “John Adams” in the comedy series and longform categories, and a top drama series honor for AMC’s “Mad Men.”
His life changed history. His courage changed lives.
In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans. Sean Penn stars as Harvey Milk under the direction of Gus Van Sant in Milk, filmed on location in San Francisco from an original screenplay by Dustin Lance Black, and produced by Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen.
Milk charts the last eight years of Harvey Milk’s life. While living in New York City, he turns 40. Looking for more purpose, Milk and his lover Scott Smith (James Franco) relocate to San Francisco, where they found a small business, Castro Camera, in the heart of a working-class neighborhood. With his beloved Castro neighborhood and beautiful city empowering him, Milk surprises Scott and himself by becoming an outspoken agent for change.
With vitalizing support from Scott and from new friends like young activist Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), Milk plunges headfirst into the choppy waters of politics. Bolstering his public profile with humor, Milk’s actions speak even louder than his gift-of-gab words.
When Milk is elected supervisor for the newly zoned District 5, he tries to coordinate his efforts with those of another newly elected supervisor, Dan White (Josh Brolin). But as White and Milk’s political agendas increasingly diverge, their personal destinies tragically converge.
Milk’s platform was and is one of hope – a hero’s legacy that resonates in the here and now.
The film’s original score is by Danny Elfman. The costume designer is Danny Glicker and Elliot Graham edited the film. The production designer is Bill Groom and the film’s director of photography is Harris Savides, A.S.C.
MILK Trailer starring Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin, and Emile Hirsch. I like the trailer because it tells you the story, which we’ve heard before through a documentary. Watching the actors take these roles is an acting lesson. I am amazed at Sean Penn’s transformation — brilliantly calculated.
Variety. 
the drama about the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. Naomi Watts is already set to star as the CIA agent with director Doug Liman (Mrs. and Mrs. Smith.)
night, we mustn’t let it go unnoticed that they also handed out awards to Sean Penn for playing activist Harvey Milk in Milk and Meryl Streep for her performance as a fiercely certain nun in Doubt.