Following such films as Dumb and Dumber in 1994 and There’s Something about Mary in 1998 everyone was thinking the Farrelly brothers were going to be the next great comedic duo if they weren’t at that status already. Then they delivered the likes of Stuck on You, Fever Pitch and The Heartbreak Kid in succession and people began to wonder if it was all over. Well, it looks like it just might be as Peter and Bobby are resorting to a story idea that first originated over seven years ago and I remember first reporting on in 2004 when Russell Crowe was rumored for a leading role. The film, a feature adaptation of The Three Stooges.
I have actually added and removed this film from the RopeofSilicon database twice and have now added it for the third time, but this time it comes with not only a studio but a release date as well, but no Crowe as Moe, which is the rumor I was talking about.
Variety reports MGM is willing to put up the cash to give Pete ‘n’ Bob the chance to bring the Stooges to the big screen (because everyone has been begging for it) and have set the film for a November 20, 2009 release putting the film up against Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr. and the animated feature Planet 51 from TriStar. The Farrellys will polish the script they wrote with Michael Cerrone and will direct the picture.
The project is budgeted at around $45 million and will be a PG or PG-13 feature. Peter Farrelly told Variety, “It’s not a biopic. It takes place in present day, and they look, dress and sound exactly like the Stooges. When the economy started turning, we felt like the world could use a Stooges slapfest. Bobby and I haven’t done a real physical comedy in a while, and it’s the most exciting thing we could think of now, to have people go to the movie, see some great slapstick fun family humor.”
Personally I think this sounds terrible, but I am not a fan of the Stooges, or slapstick/falldown comedy for that matter, but it appears this film is going to embrace everything the Stooges were about. It will be structured similarly to the shorts, as a feature storyline plays out over three installments that run between 25 and 30 minutes each. A contest will be held to find several comedy shorts that will precede the film as well as another to find Curly. The goal is to create the feeling that audiences got when they watched the original Stooges shorts as part of a diversified film program.
On top of this, the Farrellys still plan on bringing Walter the Farting Dog to the big screen with the Jonas brothers.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
