Variety reports that MGM and the Farrelly brothers are closing in on their cast for The Three Stooges. Sean Penn is set to play Larry, Jim Carrey is in negotiations to play Curly and the studio is zeroing in on Benicio Del Toro to play Moe. Carrey will gain 40 pounds to portray his role in the film, whose script was written by the Farrelly brothers. The Three Stooges will not be a biopic, but rather a comedy built around the antics of the three characters Moe and Jerome “Curly” Howard and Larry Fine. The Farrelly brothers have attempted to make this film for more than a decade and have…

After five years of waiting for confirmation to make the film, MGM has greenlit the Farrelly Brothers’ (Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary, Stuck on You) request for a re-imagining of “The Three Stooges”. The Farrellys are not only going to direct the film, but they will also be using a script they previously wrote with co-writer Michael Cerrone. The Three Stooges has a November 2009 release date and has been given a $45 million budget along with a suggested rating of PG or PG-13. The plot is said to have Moe and Larry holding an “American Idol”-like competition to find Curly. Mention of running several comedic shorts that…