The comedic helmer talks about his latest DVD, the writers strike and The Three Stooges remake

Bobby Farrelly, along with his brother Peter, have become comedic icons, staring with their amazing debut film, Dumb and Dumber. The Farrelly's latest film, The Heartbreak Kid, which took in more than $110 million worldwide, comes to DVD on December 23. I had the privelege of speaking to the comic filmmaker over the phone, and he had plenty to say about his new film and much more.

What can we expect from this new DVD?

Bobby Farrelly: Well, we've made a lot of movies, my brother Pete and I, over the years. One the movies we made earlier on was Kingpin.

Oh yeah

Bobby Farrelly: Nobody saw Kingpin in the movie theaters. It was just one of those ones that people didn't know what it was about. They didn't go see it, but they all discovered it once it came out to video, and I'm hoping that's what happens with this movie. It wasn't a big hit. The Heartbreak Kid wasn't a big hit in the theaters, but it's funny. Ben Stiller is hysterical in it, and to us, it's one of our favorite movies. First of all, I'm hoping that people will discover it, and secondly, there are a lot of outtakes and things like that, that you can't get in the movie that will make it worthwhile.

So how did this project come about?

Bobby Farrelly: Well, it's loosely based on the old Neil Simon movie that they made in the 1970s. We just loved the idea of a guy who goes on his honeymoon, and ends up falling for another girl. We thought we can take this and rewrite it enough that we put an original spin on it, and put in our style of humor. It's really a lot of laughs, and Ben Stiller plays it beautifully. It just so happens to be set in the world of marriage, but it's a lot funnier than it appears.

How did you guys attach Ben Stiller and everyone else?

Bobby Farrelly: Well, we of course had worked with Ben in There's Something About Mary, and this one just felt right. What Ben does better than anybody is the way he reacts to the world beating on him. People love Ben, but they don't mind him taking a beating for some reason.

What special features can we look forward to with this release?

Bobby Farrelly: There's a lot of raucous, sexual comedy in the movie to begin with. Some of it we couldn't put in the movie itself because it was so far out there, and that's all on the DVD. There's also, you know, all the regular outtakes. We had a lot of laughs making this movie, that's for sure, and it's all in there. I think you'll get your money's worth.

So was this the kind of movie that you just shoot a ton of footage and put the rest on the DVD?

Bobby Farrelly: Well, we always shoot more than we need, and this was no exception (Laughs). We had a lot of things in here that, just for the sake of time, you want to get the movie down to 90 minutes.

Do you guys have anything on the horizon you can tell us about?

Bobby Farrelly: Well, we've got a TV show coming out in March. It's going to be one of those mid-season replacement shows on the Fox network called Unhitched, so we've been spending a lot of time on that. We've got a couple of scripts too, that we're anxious to film, one of which is a reinvention of the Three Stooges.

Really?

Bobby Farrellly: Yeah. We've always felt that those were like the funniest guys ever. We were kind of surprised to hear that young kids today, they don't really know who the Stooges are, or the difference between them and Laurel and Hardy.

Do you have any idea who you might cast for the Stooges?

Bobby Farrelly: We always felt like Moe was the leader, probably the least comical of the roles. Larry and Curly are very comedic, but Moe's like a good strong guy. So, we're thinking of someone like a Benecio del Toro, or a Russell Crowe or one of those guys. A really strong actor would be perfect for that role, and then put more comedic guys right around them.

Who would you think for Larry and Curly then?

Bobby Farrelly: That's a good question. You know, we shoot for the top but... I don't know. Whoever does it the best. I think we'd have to be true to them in that sense. Typically in a movie, there are certain guys you didn't audition, they just come in and you offer them the job. If they want it, it's theirs, based on what they've done before. I don't think we could do that with the Stooges. I think we'd actually have to audition everyone.

Do you have any thoughts on the writers strike?

Bobby Farrrelly: I'm not immune to what's fact or fiction, but my own personal belief is that it's gonna last a little bit into the new year, maybe a couple of months into it. I think the studios and the networks, they can kind of afford to wait us out.

Yeah. I read a story from Fox that they said it would actually be beneficial for them, for TV it'd be beneficial for them because they don't have to produce new material. It said unless it lasted longer than March.

Bobby Farrelly: OK, well that's probably what'll happen then. They'll go that far. I think you're right. I mean, it's odd that they would say that they don't have to produce those things because that's what they do. They have people with biz deals and things like that that they have at the studio. They have people with production deals and I think they're weeding some of those people out. They're cleaning house and they're gonna kind of start over.

Well, that's about all I have. Thanks very much for your time, Bobby.

Bobby Farrelly: Thanks Brian. Appreciate it, man.

The Heartbreak Kid hits the DVD shelves on December 23.