The Three Stooges (2012 film)
The Three Stooges (promoted as The Three Stooges: The Movie) is a 2012 American slapstick comedy film based on the 1934–59 film shorts starring the comedy trio of the same name. It was produced, written and directed by the Farrelly brothers and co-written by Mike Cerrone. It stars Chris Diamantopoulos, Sean Hayes, and Will Sasso, re-creating the eponymous characters played by Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard.
The Three Stooges
Mike Cerrone
Peter Farrelly
Bobby Farrelly
The Three Stooges
by Norman Maurer and
Dick Brown
- Peter Farrelly
- Bobby Farrelly
- Bradley Thomas
- Charles B. Wessler
Sam Seig
- April 13, 2012[2]
92 minutes[3]
United States
English
$30 million
$54.8 million[4]
The story places the Stooges in a 21st century setting. After over a decade of casting problems, principal photography took place May–July 2011. The film was released on April 13, 2012, by 20th Century Fox to mixed reviews. A sequel is in development.
Production[edit]
Development and writing[edit]
A Three Stooges film set in the modern day had been in development during the show's 60th anniversary; Mad About You creator Danny Jacobson wrote and developed a version in 1997 that had Phil Hartman attached to play Moe.[5] Conundrum Entertainment's Bradley Thomas became attached to The Three Stooges around 2000 with Columbia Pictures. In March 2001, Warner Bros. bought the feature rights from C3 Entertainment and Peter and Bobby Farrelly became involved.[6] They along with co-writer Mike Cerrone completed the script in mid-to-late 2002 and began shopping it. In 2004, with no talent being attached to the project, their rights expired and it was acquired by First Look Studios and C3 Entertainment.[7] In November 2008, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired the Farrelly's Warner Bros. scripts and the rights from C3 Entertainment, and was given a budget of $40 million with a release date of November 20, 2009.[7] In March 2009, after struggling with casting delays, the release date was pushed to 2010, but the filmmakers still did not have a cast set.[7] In November 2010, MGM filed bankruptcy and the following month the project was taken over by 20th Century Fox in hopes to have released the film in 2011.[7][8]
The Farrellys said that they were not going to do a biopic or remake, but instead new Three Stooges episodes set in the present day. The film was divided into three segments, each with a stand-alone story, and each being 27 minutes long.[9] The Farrellys aimed to receive a PG rating from the MPAA, while still incorporating physical comedy. In Britain several images were cut before the film achieved the equivalent rating.[3] The Farrellys have also said it would have "non-stop slapping, more in the tone of Dumb and Dumber than we've done. Our goal is 85 minutes of laughs in a film that will be very respectful of who the Stooges were. It's by far the riskiest project we've ever done, without question, but it is also the one closest to our hearts."[10]
Release[edit]
Appearance on WWE Raw[edit]
To promote the film, Diamantopoulos, Hayes, and Sasso appeared as the Stooges on WWE Raw on April 9, 2012. They acted in several scenes, the first with Santino Marella, before later taking to the ring where they were booed by an infuriated crowd before Sasso, dressed as Hulk Hogan, received a chokeslam by Kane.[28]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
On its opening weekend in US, The Three Stooges earned $17.1 million and debuted second behind The Hunger Games.[29] The film grossed $54,819,301 in the box office,[4] and at least $25,013,185 through US home video sales.[30]
Critical reception[edit]
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 51% based on reviews from 150 critics; the average rating is 5.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "While nowhere near as painful as it could have been, The Three Stooges fails to add fresh laughs to the Stooges' inestimable cinematic legacy."[31] Metacritic gives the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on reviews from 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[32] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[33] Despite the mixed reviews, Diamantopoulos, Hayes, and Sasso were praised for their performances as Moe, Larry, and Curly.[34]
Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter described it as "[A] funny, good-hearted resuscitation of Hollywood's beloved lowbrow lunkheads",[34] while Manohla Dargis of The New York Times lauded the film as a "thoroughly enjoyable paean to Moe, Larry and Curly and the art of the eye poke".[35] Spill.com gave the movie a fairly good review, insisting that the movie is great for families, and hardcore Stooge-fans will not be disappointed. They also went on to praise the actors for their portrayal of the Stooges, saying the likeness was uncanny, and perhaps even Oscar-worthy. Roger Ebert gave the movie two-and-a-half out of four stars, stating "The Farrelly brothers have made probably the best Three Stooges movie it's possible to make in 2012, and perhaps ever since the Stooges stopped making them themselves."[36] Some critics, however, complained about the forced pop culture references such as cameos by Jersey Shore cast members which were presumably done to ensure the movie would have youth appeal and not simply be a nostalgia trip for older audiences.
Betsy Sherman of The Boston Phoenix gave it three out of four stars, saying it was "funny and faithful", and added that the film contains "stories that could have graced [the Stooges]' 1930s shorts (raise money to save an orphanage, stumble into a greedy wife's plot) onto the present and imagine how they'd interpret modern concepts (farm-raised salmon)".[37]
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine gave it two stars out of four, commenting that "the movie is a mixed bag. The gags don't blossom with repetition. The Stooges were always better in short doses. And 90 minutes of PG nyuk-nyuk-nyuk can seem like an eternity. For the Farrellys, The Three Stooges is a labor of love. For non-believers, it's merely a labor." Travers also praised the cast, stating "The actors deserve a full-throated woo-woo-woo!" adding that "Hayes, Sasso, and Diamantopoulos do themselves and the Stooges proud."[38] James White of Empire gave the film a two out of five stars, saying, "The mooted Stooges – Sean Penn, Jim Carrey, Benicio del Toro – dodged a bullet judging by this muddle of creaky slapstick and laugh-free plotting."[39]
Bill Wine of KYW Newsradio 1060 in Philadelphia commented that "no one's going to confuse The Three Stooges with a transcendent movie anytime soon, but the Farrellys do capture and reproduce the anarchic spirit and uninhibited essence of the Stooges—soitenly and poifectly, as the Stooges would put it—and remind us why they had such a hold on some of us in decades past. The three leads are expert mimics—especially Hayes...they acquit themselves admirably..."[40]
Criticism for anti-catholicism[edit]
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League anti-defamation organization, released a statement condemning the movie on the grounds of disrespectful portrayals of Catholics, specifically nuns.[41] Donohue claims that the movie is evidence of increasing hostility towards religion and Catholics in Hollywood, commenting "In the 1950s, Hollywood generally avoided crude fare and was respectful of religion. Today, it specializes in crudity and trashes Christianity, especially Catholicism." Donohue added that the movie "is not just another remake: it is a cultural marker of sociological significance, and what it says about the way we've changed is not encouraging."[41]
Donohue pinpoints one scene in which the film pushes the envelope with its portrayals of two unusual nuns, respectively portrayed by model Kate Upton, and Curb Your Enthusiasm star/creator Larry David. Both are potential causes for the offense for different reasons, as Moviefone reports:
Sequel[edit]
On May 7, 2015, a sequel was announced, with Hayes, Diamantopoulos and Sasso all reprising their roles. Cameron Fay was hired to write the script.[47] Production was set to begin in 2018 but plans for the sequel were abandoned.[48][49] It was then announced in December 2021 that development on the sequel had restarted but as of 2024, production has yet to commence.[50]