Sean Penn is One of the ‘Three Stooges’ Again

Published by Jeff Leins on January 5, 2010

Sean Penn seems to be back in the mix as Larry in The Three Stooges, a forever-delayed comedy from the Farrelly brothers.

In June 2009, Penn took a year off from acting to focus on family issues, mainly an impending divorce filed by his wife, Robin Wright Penn.  Try as he might to salvage their relationship, they have called it quits for good this time and Sean Penn is headed back to work.

For whatever strange reason that compelled the two-time Oscar winner to agree to it in the first place, Penn is attached once again as a Stooge.  Bobby Farrelly told the Boston Herald (via the Playlist), “He always said he wanted to do it after, you know, taking care of his family.”

Benicio del Toro is still interested in filling the Moe role, which leaves Curly otherwise unoccupied.  Jim Carrey was involved for a brief period, but dropped out either due to disinterest or/and Penn’s departure.  Maybe he didn’t fit the Oscar quota for conking other actors with a frying pan.

The Farrelly brothers, who once teamed for There’s Something About Mary and Dumb & Dumber, may tout a decent track record for funny comedies, but lately they’re name has grown suspect.  Bobby and Peter have been promising Three Stooges for years, tossing out dream names like Johnny Depp and Paul Giamatti, even going far enough to suggest the latter already signed for this slow-moving disaster.

When they did get behind the camera recently, the Farrellys made movies like Jimmy Fallon’s Fever Pitch and the Ben Stiller train wreck The Heartbreak Kid.  They’ve also agreed to make an upcoming movie titled Walter and the Farting Dog, based on a script as bad as it sounds and with the involvement of the Jonas brothers.

While the Stooges movie waits and possibly never happens, the Farrellys will turn their attention to directing Owen Wilson in Hall Pass next month. The Herald says the project is about a “ho-hum hubby whose wife, looking to spice up their sex life, gives him a ‘pass’ to play the field for a week.”  See what I mean?