I am so excited about this casting possibility. My mother loved “Water for Elephants.” It was the last book she spoke highly of before she passed away.  The Sara Gruen wrote the best-selling historical novel. 

Sean Penn and Robert Pattinson are circling Fox 2000′s Water for Elephants, with Reese Witherspoon already attached to star and Francis Lawrence (I am Legend) attached to direct.

Richard LaGravenese will adapt for the big screen for Lawrence. 

Set during the Great Depression, Gruen’s book tells the story of a Cornell University veterinary student who leaves his studies after his parents are killed, and joins up with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, working as a vet for the circus.

Sean Penn is now back to play Larry in the Three Stooges movie.

Yes, I know, it wasn’t so long ago we were playing musical chairs with the various parts of this film, and actors were coming in and out like the tides.  Jim Carrey was in and out, Benicio Del Toro, Paul Giamatti…all of these were mentioned, and most of them fell through.

But apparently, when Sean Penn announced that he was taking a year off to be with his family, it must have been a year on, say, Mercury, because by the current word he’s back and ready to party.

The down side here, of course, is that the Farrelly Brothers, who were directing the movie, aren’t ready.  They’re off getting ready to start shooting Hall Pass with Owen Wilson.

And after all this sound and fury, we STILL don’t have a Curly.  And if the Farrelly Brothers screw up Curly I’m going to be just SUPER pissed.

Who knows where it’s going from here, folks…but one thing’s for sure, we’ll have all the latest right here.

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.”

For a complete list of SAG winners, click here.

New York Film Critics Circle gave top honors to Milk and its star Sean Penn.

Mike Leigh won the best director prize for Happy-Go-Lucky. Movie’s star Sally Hawkins picked up the trophy for best actress.

In the supporting categories, Josh Brolin was honored for his performance in Milk while Penelope Cruz won for her turn in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Wall-E continues to rack up honors as the Disney/Pixar computer-generated movie won for best animated feature.

A complete list of winners are available here.