Sean Penn Drops Out of The Three Stooges

What’s eating Sean Penn? He’s not known as the most gentle soul in Hollywood, but he is known for having some serious acting chops. Unfortunately we won’t be seeing him doing what he does best for a while. According to Variety, the two-time Oscar winner has dropped out of two major film projects he was signed on to star in for Universal and MGM. The projects in question are Cartel, and the much talked about The Three Stooges.

The actor informed both studios that he won’t be able to commit to either film. He wants to take some time off to focus on his family and home life at the moment, and it’s undetermined as to how long his break may be. Universal plans on recasting his role in Cartel and are gathering a list of actors as we speak. MGM on the other hand hasn’t confirmed whether or not they will replace Penn with another actor for their Stooges feature, or wait to see if Penn will change his mind. He was set to join Jim Carrey and Benicio del Toro in the Peter and Bobby Farrelly film.

With two films off his roster, Penn still has another two that he’s already wrapped production on. The Tree of Life and Fair Game will both be released next year. Beyond that, his schedule isn’t set. He could possibly take up to a year or more off. It must be nice to have a profession where you can just take any amount of time off to focus on yourself. I agree with him putting his family before his career, it’s a rarity in Hollywood.

If you’re a Sean Penn performance addict you might as well get familiar with Netflix or Blockbuster because that will be the only way you can get your fix. This would be a good time to check out some of his earlier work.

What do you think of Sean Penn’s unexpected hiatus from acting? Is he making the right decision?