So What's Happening To THE THREE STOOGES?

Nordling here.

We've been all over the map on this one. The Farrelly Brothers' revival of the classic comedy trio's seems to have had trouble nailing down actors for the roles since the get go. Sean Penn came, dropped out, came back, then dropped out again; we've had Jim Carrey gain weight for the part of Curly and then drop out; and even Benicio Del Toro was apparently going to be Moe at one point (or was it Larry? I'm thoroughly confused now).

Well, according to Entertainment Weekly, casting is still up in the air but Peter Farrelly's ready to go. He's got a plot ready and he's just looking for cast members. News reports of Johnny Knoxville and Andy Samberg being cast are apparently false - "You don't want people to think 'we've already cast the thing' because we haven't. It's wide open to everybody," said Farrelly.

The plot, which would be a fictional comedy and not a biopic, seems to revolve around the Stooges growing up in an orphanage and then heading out on the road together as adults. It will contain all the slapstick comedy that is the Three Stooges' trademark, seemingly from the very first frames: “A car whips by an orphanage, throws a duffel bag out its window and keeps going. A nun sees the duffel and opens it up, and a little baby hand comes out and BOINK! hits her in the eye. So that first episode is them growing up in the orphanage," said Peter Farrelly to EW.

I love the Stooges. I watched them religiously when I was a kid coming home from school. Not to make any kind of direction in the way of casting, but to me, the Stooges would work best if cast against type. People like Samberg and Knoxville are funny, but those are the first people to come to mind when it comes to a film like this. I loved the idea of Sean Penn being involved - it would have been so different than anything he's done before now, with the possible exception of Jeff Spicoli, the role that brought him to our attention in the first place. I guess I'm saying... Daniel Day-Lewis as Moe. I'm completely and utterly serious. Cast against type for this one. Could you imagine Daniel Day-Lewis clonking Curly, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman (yeah I said it) on the head or in the face?

Another interesting take that Peter Farrelly described was that all the punching, eye-poking, and nose-bashing just doesn't fly in the real world: “Suddenly, when Moe hits somebody he doesn’t know, that’s assault and battery." I really like that, the clashing of the obvious fantasy that is the Stooges with the staid, restrained reality that they simply can't get away with that kind of crazy violence out there outside of their element.

I'm watching this film closely. Like I said, I adore the Stooges and really hope Farrelly pulls this off. They've had it on deck for a few years now and they sound very eager to get started. I hope good actors get involved with the project and it just doesn't become another comedy staple. The Stooges deserve better than that.

Daniel Day-Lewis for Moe. Just putting it out there, guys.

Nordling, out.