Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, and Jim Carrey to Star in the Farrelly Brother's Remake of the Three Stooges?

MGM is remaking the Three Stooges into a full length film for release in 2010. Yes, THOSE Three Stooges. Will this end up being another Hollywood remake to cash in old ideas or will it hold any of the heart the original had?

The Farrelly brothers have the script written and have been on quest to make this film that has lasted nearly a decade. The film has moved studios twice now, moving from Columbia (who originally produced the Stooges shorts from the 30s), to Warner Brothers (who let the rights lapse), and now picked up by MGM where it is now. After all that turmoil, it seemed like the movie would never be made, but something has changed, there are now names for the Stooges.

Sean Penn is confirmed to be playing Larry.

Jim Carrey is in negotiations to play Curly, and according to Variety is already making plans to gain forty pounds to fit the role.

Benicio Del Toro is the studios choice to play Moe.

Johnny Depp was once rumored to be playing Moe and is the only one besides Sean Penn currently listed on the internet movie database, but it is only mentioned as rumored.

The movie, dubbed simply, The Three Stooges, is not a biopic of the actors lives (Mel Gibson was the executive producer of a TV movie in 2000 that was a biopic), it is a brand new Stooges movie. Originally conceived as four shorts, it is now going to have one overall plot to tie it all together, including a portion where they are kids and the faces of the actors will be "Benjamin Buttoned" onto child actors.

Now maybe I'm just bias against remakes of all kinds, but I just don't think this will work out so well. The Three Stooges are comedy icons. People argue to this day about which Stooge trio was the best, and if/when they should have ended the series instead of continuing the series. Will fans of the original watch a complete remake? The Farrelly Brothers do seem to be passionate about the project but when Bobby Farrelly says the movie is like "Dumb, Dumber & Dumbest", I'm just not filled with all that much hope.

Though a quote from an issue of the New Yorker in 2004 by Peter Farrelly is a bit more encouraging, "Growing up, first you watched Curly, then Moe, and then your eyes got to Larry. He's the reactor, the most vulnerable. Five to fourteen, Curly; fourteen to twenty-one, Moe. Anyone out of college, if you're not looking at Larry, you don't have a good brain."

Regardless of success, the movie should give a new rise to the Three Stooges library; where fans, old and new can watch the greatness of the originals.

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

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/04/19/040419fa_fact