Sean Penn withdraws from Stooges and Cartel
Story by Jack Foley
SEAN Penn has withdrawn from his next two movies, citing personal reasons.
The surprise announcement was revealed by Variety, which stated that the Oscar-winning actor intends to take “an undetermined sabbatical” that could last for up to a year in order to concentrate on his family.
He has recently completed Doug Liman’s CIA thriller Fair Game, alongside Naomi Watts, and Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, with Brad Pitt.
But Penn has definitely pulled out of Cartel, Asger Leth’s movie about a man who is forced to take extreme measures to protect his son after his wife is murdered by Mexican cartels.
Penn’s decision also means that he’ll likely be unavailable for the start of shooting of Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s The Three Stooges, which was to have united him with Benicio Del Toro and Jim Carrey. It’s not yet known whether the production will wait for the actor’s return, or look to re-cast immediately.
Another Penn project, This Must Be The Place, which was announced at Cannes and which would unite him with Italian director Paolo (Il Divo) Sorrentino, is still in the development and scheduling stage.
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