Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

MGM last week signed Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn to play Larry in the long-planned modern adaptation of the classic Three Stooges comedy act from the movie-making Farrelly brothers of Rhode Island, triggering speculation this week that at least some scenes could be filmed here this fall.

Peter and Bobby Farrelly, who grew up in Cumberland, aren't commenting, but they have said in the past they would like to film their Three Stooges movie in the state. Scenes for three of their previous films -- "Dumb and Dumber,'' "There's Something About Mary'' and "Me, Myself & Irene'' -- were all shot in the Ocean State.

The studio also is in negotiations with Jim Carrey to play Curly and Benicio Del Toro to play Moe, the self-styled "brains" of the operation. Carrey, who starred in the Farrellys' "Me, Myself & Irene,'' which filmed in Rhode Island in 1999, said he would be willing to pack on 40 pounds to play the chubby Stooge, according to the trade publication Variety.

Peter Farrelly has said that the film, with a budget of $45 million, won't be a biography of Moe, Larry and Curly, but will bring them into the present day "and they look, dress and sound exactly like the Stooges.''

Stephen Feinberg, executive director of the Rhode Island Film & TV Office, said that at this point "We don't know.'' Feinberg said he had been in contact with the Farrellys about the movie project, but that at the moment it was "premature'' to discuss whether the movie would be filmed here. "We're trying," Feinberg said, "but nothing's locked. It's quite a ways away."

MGM spokeswoman Floramae Yap said the studio doesn't yet know where the Stooges movie will be filmed "because they haven't even finished casting everyone.''

 Tags  Cumberland RI Rhode Island