Johnny Knoxville to Play Moe in Farrelly Brothers' The Three Stooges
Posted 03.11.11 by Ryan
Writer/directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly made some surprising casting choices for their upcoming The Three Stooges when they originally cast Benicio Del Toro as Moe, Sean Penn as Larry, and Jim Carrey as Curly back in 2009. But as studio MGM started experiencing financial troubles that halted production, the Farrellys slowly began to lose their cast.
Last year, Carrey admitted he wasn't willing to put on the required weight to play Curly, and while Del Toro was still considered the "frontrunner" for Moe as of January, Peter admitted that Penn's involvement in Haiti relief efforts made him too busy to play Larry.
The Farrellys pressed on with casting, revealing last December that their casting standards were to find "the best possible people" that could could embody "Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard." Apparently fitting that bill is Johnny Knoxville.
Variety reports that Knoxville is the Farrelly's choice for the role, and are awaiting the Jackass star to "officially accept" the part so final negotiations can begin. Knoxville first worked with the Farrellys on 2005's The Ringer, which the brothers executive produced.
The move from Academy Award and Golden Globe winning actors to Knoxville is clearly a move to a younger demographic, and is reportedly the first step before casting the two other lead roles. Earlier this month, Bobby admitted that Australian actor Shane Jacobson was "in the mix" for the role of Curly, and the The Playlist reported last month that Will Sasso could compete for Curly, while Justin Timberlake, Woody Harrelson and Larry David were rumored to be up for the part of Larry.
Why not just add in Knoxville's Jackass co-stars and add Steve-O as Larry and Prston Lacy as Curly? Just a thought.
The Farrellys consider their Three Stooges a "resurrection" of the famous comedic trio, and the movie will be comprised of three 27-minute long shorts involving the Stooges' face-slapping comedy. Production will begin in mid-April in Atlanta.