THE THREE STOOGES Makes the Move to 20th Century Fox; Filming Set to Begin in March

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By CJ Simonson

Published Dec 2, 2010

Filming on The Three Stooges is set to begin in March with the Farrelly Brothers directing from a script they co-wrote with Mike Cerrone.

The Three Stooges is one roller coaster of news. The film has had its share of impressive names drop in and out, everyone from Sean Penn to Paul Giamatti, with the Farrelly Brothers set to direct. Even just last month Jim Carrey claimed the project was dead. According to Deadline however, the project is back with 20^th Century Fox set to take it over from MGM. As of now The Farrelly Brothers are still set to direct the film which has a start date of March 14^th.

The film’s original script, penned by Peter and Bobby Farrelly and Mike Cerrone, will remain the movie’s final screenplay despite the move to Fox. The movie remains uncast however, with Jim Carrey and Sean Penn officially out. It is still unsure whether the casting of Benicio Del Toro as Moe remains the same. Conundrum Entertainment, the company that owns the rights to the film, have now followed it from Columbia to MGM to Fox and things are finally looking like the project will happen. For more details on The Three Stooges film, hit the jump.

The film will be very much in the vein of the original Stooges films. The movie will be divided into three individual 27 minute segments. The goal as of now is to make the film PG while still incorporating the slapstick humor that made the originals so funny. Deadline quoted Peter Farrelly as saying:

“The script is ready to go, and we are opening up these roles to the world right now. We'll make it with the best possible people. Our feeling is that no star is too big to audition and no matter who it is, we're going to have to see him in the role. This is not The Flintstones. You've got to be Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard, and that could be a major movie star or an unknown... Our goal is 85 minutes of laughs in a film that will be very respectful of who the Stooges were. It's by far the riskiest project we've ever done, without question, but it is also the one closest to our hearts."

The movie will start out with the stooges being dumped on the front of the orphanage where they grew up with Richard Jenkins in talks to play the nun who terrorized the trio as youngsters. The movie will then follow them into their adult lives and the comedy will ensue. Casting is set to begin immediately so the movie can begin filming in Atlanta in March.