Universal Pictures has set Josh Brolin to star in Cartel , the Asger Leth-directed drama that will begin shooting January in Mexico City.Brolin will play the role Sean Penn was to perform until he left the project in June.Brian Grazer is producing the Peter Craig-scripted drama for Imagine Entertainment.Brolin will play a man on a mission to protect his son after his wife is brutally murdered in the gritty world of Mexican drug cartels.