Penn comes to his senses and pulls out of THE THREE STOOGES
"Career suicide" is the term I mused back in March when Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Jim Carrey had bizarelly signed up to star in a big screen broad comedy version of The Three Stooges for the Farrelly Brothers at MGM. Today, one of those guys has come to his senses. Sean Penn has dropped out of playing Larry, deciding to take a year off from filming, probably because he is so shocked at what he had nearly gotten himself into. The Hollywood Reporter say he is going to spend time with his family, which means he won't be starring in the Mexican thriller Cartel either. 
Do The Farelly's wait for Penn, an actor who is hardly one they could easily replace, or do they say the 2 out of 3 they have in their handain't bad and the names of Carrey (who we presume from earlier reports is gaining weight right now to play Curly) and Del Toro (as Moe) might entice another top actor to sign up? Because at the end of the day, whose to say Carrey and Del Toro will wait for Penn? Filming at the moment is set to begin in April for a release next year. I'm sure many actors would be interested in stepping into Penn's shoes here but I can't imagine anyone of the quality of Penn would touch this with a barge pole. Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere say he has been told potential replacements for Penn include...
Do The Farelly's wait for Penn, an actor who is hardly one they could easily replace, or do they say the 2 out of 3 they have in their handain't bad and the names of Carrey (who we presume from earlier reports is gaining weight right now to play Curly) and Del Toro (as Moe) might entice another top actor to sign up? Because at the end of the day, whose to say Carrey and Del Toro will wait for Penn? Filming at the moment is set to begin in April for a release next year. I'm sure many actors would be interested in stepping into Penn's shoes here but I can't imagine anyone of the quality of Penn would touch this with a barge pole. Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere say he has been told potential replacements for Penn include... Paul Giamatti, Adrien Brody, Simon Pegg, Zach Galifianakis and -- believe it -- Larry David.Larry David played Larry in Three Stooges sketches on the ABC Late Night Show Fridays nearly thirty years ago...
Do we all agree Paul Giamatti is the best choice?
Penn has already finished Doug Liman's C.I.A. thriller Fair Game which once again sees him star alongside Naomi Watts (his co-star in 21 Grams and The Assassination of Richard Nixon) and Terrence Malick's crazy sounding The Tree of Life, both should be out next year.