Sean Penn went to visit his new bud Brad Pitt last night at the Los Feliz home he shares with Angelina Jolie and the kids and it seems the Oscar-winning actor had a bit of trouble waiting for the gate to open fully and he crashed into the wrought-iron fence at the end of Pitt's private drive!

Our photographers say the actor was driving wildly, as usual, and as the security gate to Pitt's street opened, Penn rushed through, swiping his pick-up truck along a fixed part of the gate on the right. Uh ... Spicoli?

Brad and Sean notoriously butted heads while filming Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life in 2008. Reports said there was trouble between the two because of Pitt's ex Jennifer Aniston's friendship with Penn (stemming from a short film Jen directed starring Sean's on-again-off-again wife Robin Wright).

So why might these two be hanging out? Perhaps they're hoping to revive Tree, listed on IMDB as being in post-production but reported as having been shelved by various other sources.

The film features Pitt as the father of a boy whose lost innocence haunts him as he grows into a man played by Penn. It's a highly-conceptual film, governed by a heavy-hand from Malick. The picture was originally set for release last year but a rep for Malick's distributor explained the helmer wanted to spend extra time in the editing room which would push back the release to sometime this year. Reports speculate Tree may premiere at Cannes in May.

I wonder if Angelina was in on this meeting? ...