He’s been rumoured as a Farrelly favourite choice for a couple of months now, but it looks like things have moved on apace as the brothers are now reaching out to Johnny Knoxville for the part of Moe Howard in The Three Stooges.
Variety reports that no formal negotiations have kicked off yet as Knoxville has yet to actually accept the role. But he’s definitely interested and it looks like they’ll start hammering out a deal if he’s on for it.
It would be a big step forward for the directors, who have been developing their Stooges dream project for years at MGM and now 20th Century Fox. Dream casts have come and gone, with the likes of Benicio del Toro, Jim Carrey and Sean Penn circling the iconic roles of Curly, Larry and Moe, but while it appeared that Peter and Bobby would finally get to shoot the thing, it has collapsed every time.
If Knoxville does jump aboard, it means the Farrellys can finally lock in the other two leads. He’s also a solid choice for the film, since he’s worked with the directors before (on The Ringer) and has a slight reputation for physical comedy. Apparently the plan for the Stooges film is for a format divided into three 27-minute chunks loaded with slapstick to channel the broad spirit of the original team.
With luck, the film will be in production this April, and the brothers can finally let out that long sigh of relief. Or is that fart of relief, given who it is?