By Kofi Outlaw

The Farrelly Brothers are known for their raunchy comedy movies (SOMETHING ABOUT MARY.) But the project nearest and dearest to their hearts may involve characters of the slapstick persuasion. Do the names Moe, Larry and Curly ring a bell?

Filmmakers Bobby and Peter Farelly recently opened up to MTV news about their ongoing mission to get a THREE STOOGES movie into theaters, a goal they’ve been trying to reach the turn of the century. With the opening of their latest film THE HEARTBREAK KID this past weekend, the Farrellys had a timely opportunity to reaffirm for fans that the Stooges film has not been forgotten:

“It is happening, but we don’t know when,” Pter Farrelly said of the controversial comedy relaunch… “It’s been the hardest thing to get made.”

The Farrellys assured that they plan to avoid the mistakes of other classic TV “updates” (like the reprehensible HONEYMOONERS,) by keeping the Stooges the exact same way we love them: loveable loons always digging themselves deeper and deeper into holes of chaos. And the Farrelly’s promise to amp that chaos factor as high as it will go:

“The movie will be in current time; they look exactly the same, they sound exactly the same,” Peter insisted… “We’ve written the script. It’s all new situations that the Three Stooges would be in, but at present day… It’s the same type of situations but all fresh… The big difference… will be that the outrageousness will be knocked up to the next level.”

One sad note: it seems that Shemp won’t be joining in the fun. The Farrelly Brothers’ script focuses on the antics of just the original comedic trio of Moe, Larry and Curly (Shemp was later brought in to replace Curly during the original series, after the robust stooge suffered a stroke in 1946.) Fear not though, the Farrellys are not discouraging any possibilities of Shemp making an appearance in any ‘STOOGES films down the line:

“Well, Shemp maybe will come in if we do a second one. [Peter said.]”

Mallet-hitting, eye-poking, saw-across-the-forehead antics? I’m all for them. The ‘STOOGES shorts were classic viewing, even for someone as young as I. Theirs is a timeless humor, which will surely connect with audiences today—plus it is the perfect project to help the Farrellys out of the slump they’ve been in recently. That’s what we in the movie-blogging business call “a win-win situation.”

Rant and tell us how soon YOU would to see THE THREE STOOGES on the silver screen.