Three Stooges bringing zany antics to big screen

[edonline]

http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSTRE4A30PM20081104

Three Stooges bringing zany antics to big screen
Mon Nov 3, 2008 11:21pm EST

By Jay A. Fernandez

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The Three Stooges may have finally found their way back home.

MGM, which showcased the comedy trio in shorts and features as early as 1933, is in the process of acquiring the film rights to the Stooges from Warner Bros., which has been developing a feature project for years.

Filmmakers Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, most recently in theaters with a remake of "The Heartbreak Kid," are attached to direct the project from their own script. MGM hopes to release the film next November.

"The Three Stooges are a timeless staple of comedy," said Mary Parent, chairman of MGM's worldwide motion picture group. "And when we heard what the Farrellys had in mind, we knew it was time for Larry, Moe and Curly to return to the big screen."

The Farrellys' screenplay -- described by the filmmakers as "slapstick with heart" -- breaks the feature into four 20-minute shorts, in an approximation of the vaudeville and slapstick pioneers' most common format in the 1920s and '30s. The first episode establishes the bruising, boisterous brothers as 7-year-old castoffs who terrorize the nun-run orphanage that takes them in. Eventually forced to leave, Moe (the hostile leader), Larry (the jokey sidekick) and Curly (the childlike dimwit) try to find a place for themselves in a modern world.

No one is yet attached to star, but over the years thinking has run from unknowns to A-listers such as Russell Crowe and Mel Gibson. Gibson is a Stooges expert who executive-produced an ABC TV movie about the Three Stooges in 2000.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

[Cosimo]

:confused:

nobody can play the three stooges apart from the three stooges themselves

russel crowe and mel gilbson, say what the fuck?!

[john_rambo]

will this include shemp?

[KCJ506]

I have nothing positive to say about this at all.

[bigred760]

I'm not even a fan of the Three Stooges (more of a Marx Bros. follower) and even I think this is a horrible idea.

[DarthWade]

I love the Stooges and this sounds kind of interesting but...meh....it just seems really really wrong. Like La Motta said, one the Stooges can play the Stooges. It's like getting someone else to play Closeau - it's just not the same.

I may give it a shot when it comes out, but I'm not expecting much.

[Frank the Tank]

Wow, I love the Three Stooges, but the Farrellys should abandon this product. It's just not going to work, and I can't picture anyone playing The Stooges. Especially Curly as I can't see anyone coming close to matching his silly facial expressions, stunt work, and great physical comedy. The guy may have been pudgy, but he was very agile in those old Stooge shorts.

[JJFlamingo]

Casting is key here...

[Elgyn]

One of the most mind-blowingly AWFUL ideas for a movie I`ve ever heard.

[Jon Lyrik]

Actually, Russell Crowe and Mel Gibson would be brilliant to watch hurting and hating each other.

[Conz]

the movie will be bad most likely, but im very interested in seeing who gets cast.

[XCoRyX]

I have nothing positive to say about this at all.

My words exactly.

[Sigur509]

Jeff Daniels better be involved someway.

[Smarmy Douche]

http://www.variety.com/VR1118001643.html

What kind of crazy voodoo magic have the Farrelly brothers implemented to make this happen?

I hope they didn't ritual murder a baby or anything.

[Conz]

the movie will be bad most likely, but im very interested in seeing who gets cast.

and now i think it will be amazing

[AspectRatio1986]

Holy shit...this just went up the list for upcoming movies.

[drc5145]

We went from an AMAZING Piece of news (Where The Wild Things Are Trailer) to one the most BIZARRE news I've seen yet. Even more Bizarre than the hubbub over Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life, IMAX and Dinosaurs.

[ericdraven]

WOW. this movie will be epic

[dennisv]

April Fools!


lol wtf rofl pwn.

[NuclearMisfit]

Wow if this is Joblos April Fools then the man has done it again!!!

[Dr.Frankenstein]

This is really a shocker-IF-IF-IF? true?:eek:

[outsyder]

Yeah, I really don't think Jim Carrey is going to gain 40 pounds for a film, let along a Three Stooges film.

[HockeyHead]

This is such an awful idea I can't even begin to fathom how dreadful this will be! Has Hollywood just said fuck originality? I mean, where's the fucking Keystone Cops movie? LOL!

[bigred760]

I think this is great casting . . . all three are excellent actors. I've never been much of a Stooges fan, but with these three leading the way, I'm interested.

[HockeyHead]

I'm not even a fan of the Three Stooges (more of a Marx Bros. follower) and even I think this is a horrible idea.

Changed you're tune just a little bit didn't ya? lol

[bigred760]

Changed you're tune just a little bit didn't ya? lol

Just a little. :D

It's also the fact that they're not in a biopic of the Three Stooges, but they'll be how the Three Stooges would be in a movie, which intrigues me.

[adamjohnson]

This will bomb so hard. Stooges comedy just cant work in todays world, hell, it barely worked back when it was on.

Notice they broke it up into 4 20-minute segments. Its pretty obvious a stooges movie cant sustain for 90 minutes, or even 80.

[AspectRatio1986]

This will bomb so hard. Stooges comedy just cant work in todays world, hell, it barely worked back when it was on.

Notice they broke it up into 4 20-minute segments. Its pretty obvious a stooges movie cant sustain for 90 minutes, or even 80.

Maybe it will be 3-4 short films?

[DarthWade]

Del Toro, Penn and Carrey are good actors (Carrey being at the bottom of the list of course) but this just seems too weird. This seems so surreal. I won't bother to hope for much, but I hope I'm wrong.

[BlownCamaro]

I hate Sean Peen so I would love for this film to come out and flop miserably. I like Carrey and Del Toro so I would hope it is good. So conflicted. Definitley the strangest idea I have heard of though. Robert Downey Jr playing a black guy used to hold the top spot, not anymore!

[g1ng3rsnap9ed]

No. NO!

NO!!!!

:mad:

[JoeChar4321]

I hate Sean Peen so I would love for this film to come out and flop miserably.

I hate Sean Penn so much that there's no way I'd ever pay to see ANYTHING he's in. I'm not alone. So, forget hope, this thing will flop.

[JJFlamingo]

Will only see if Sean Penn gets slapped around more than the other two...:D

[Bourne101]

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

[Le_Big_Mac]

I hate how people seem to go nuts over an awful-sounding movie just because the actors are all "awesome."

[NuclearMisfit]

Jeff Daniels would be alot better than Sean Penn. Hell I thought he was in character already when he was in Dumb and Dumber.

[Dr.Frankenstein]

I so hope this is true?!:confused: