Of the large comedy troupe that appeared on MTV and very briefly on CBS as The State, no single member has risen to any great length of fame, but three of them broke off to form the funniest trio since The Marx Brothers worked without Zeppo or Gummo. Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and David Wain have performed on stage, online and on Comedy Central as Stella, and the latter two wrote the brilliant cult comedy Wet Hot American Summer, which was also directed by Wain. Since that film, Showalter made his own movie (the understated and underrated The Baxter), and Black's directorial effort (The Pleasure of Your Company) is coming soon. Now Wain is finally making a follow-up to Summer, this time co-writing with Ken Marino, who appeared in the previous film and was also a member of Stella. The film is a spoof of The Ten Commandments and is simply called The Ten. It is set to begin shooting in July and will star Paul Rudd, Jessica Alba, Amanda Peet, Justin Theroux, Adam Brody and Marino. My guess is that the three Stella guys will have roles, as usual, too.

I always felt this bunch was the real successor to Monty Python, and now with a wacky Biblical picture, they may prove it. Sure, Mel Brooks did an adequate bit in History of the World: Part I that spoofed Moses' story, but if you've ever seen any of the hysterical projects that Wain has been involved in, you have to agree that his latest endeavor will be equally amazing. If you haven't seen any of his work, go and rent Summer and download all the Stella episodes from iTunes this very minute. And be prepared with stitches for when your stomach bursts from laughter.