Josh Brolin must be in a good mood.  His career explode in the last two years in a flurry of great press, with his praised performances for W, Milk, and Oscar-winning flick No Country for Old Men. And if you thought his future was busy enough, with Brolin set to appear in Wall Street 2, Woody Allen’s latest film, and the lead role in eagerly awaited comic book adaptation Jonah Hex, he’s managed to top that with another addition to his 2010 schedule: Brolin will be replacing Sean Penn who recently dropped out of Cartel.

Cartel is a loose remake of the Italian film La Scorta, in which a judge attempts to bring Sicilian mob bosses to justice. The remake will involve Brolin playing a man who is trying to protect his son after his wife is murdered by a Mexican drugs organisation. Brolin has proved himself to be a great actor, especially in roles that involve a tough exterior riddled with cracks. He seems like a fitting replacement for Penn.

Cartel will be an interesting flick, a seemingly suspenseful thriller on paper, but directed by the man behind Haitian documentary Ghosts of Cité Soleil. Filming starts in January so don’t expect this flick to hit our screens until 2011.