'Three Stooges' to star Johnny Knoxville, Andy Samberg... and Cher?
The search for the perfect Stooges continues.
The Farrelly Brothers plan to shoot their big-screen adaptation of the "Three Stooges" shorts this spring, but have yet to cast the trio. Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Jim Carrey were set to star as Larry, Moe and Curly, respectively. But it looks like both Penn and Carrey dropped out, while Del Toro remains a question mark.
According to the L.A. Times, the Farrellys are now eyeing Johnny Knoxville as a possible Moe with "Saturday Night Live" star Andy Samberg filling in for frizzy-haired Larry.
"We like both of those guys," said Bobby Farrelly. "We always thought Samberg looks a little like he could play Larry. And Knoxville is a real-life stooge. He's a real-life Moe."
Since Carrey abandoned the project ("We never heard from him, but we read it," says Peter Farrelly), there haven't been any serious contenders for Curly. However, the Farrellys say they have found their leading lady for the film: Cher. The Oscar-winning entertainer would play the Mother Superior of an orphanage where the Stooges are dumped at the beginning of the movie and wreak havoc.
"Cher is just the coolest chick ever," Peter said of the star, who made a cameo in their 2003 film "Stuck on You." "It's hard to describe. You meet a lot of celebrities in our business. We're not cowed by many of them. But Cher is bawdy, she's fun, she's cool, she's lived a life, she's got experience, she's humble. It's the humility that struck me the most. She's not really a diva."
As Marquee previously reported, "The Three Stooges" will not be a traditional biopic but a reboot of sorts, featuring three 27-minute shorts filled with slapstick and the Stooges' classic theme songs.
"No matter what we do, some people will not like this movie, just because there are the purists who say 'You shouldn't be remaking it,'" Peter tells the L.A. Times. "Our feeling about it is this: We love the Three Stooges. And the Three Stooges never got the Class A treatment they deserve. They were never Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello or the Marx brothers. They never got movies, and they never got the adulation in their lives that we feel they deserve."
What do you think of the Farrellys' potential casting choices? Tell us in a comment below.
