Jason Segel Now Starring in the New Muppet Movie

Since before Forgetting Sarah Marshall was released, Jason Segel has been linked to an upcoming Muppet movie that Disney's putting together. So, for the past two years, Segel has been slowly developing the script, and about six or eight months ago, Flight of the Conchords co-creator James Bobin was signed to direct it. I think we can admit those are pretty clever moves to make; Disney and the Henson clan are really trying to keep the Muppets relevant and maybe more adult than they were originally intended (although that was part of the appeal all those years ago). Now comes word (from Heat Vision Blog) that Segel will play the human lead in the film, which probably isn't much of a surprise. For one thing, Segel has a certain recognition with a 24-35 crowd thanks to How I Met Your Mother, Sarah Marshall, and I Love You, Man, even though he's not a "star," exactly. Secondly, he doesn't need to be a star - or more specifically, the movie doesn't need one - because the Muppets are the stars. Details about the movie itself are still kind of under wraps; back in September it had the working title The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made, so we hope they stick to that. Segel had an idea at one point that the movie would be about saving that Muppet theater from an evil land baron (kind of the same premise used in the Prairie Home Companion movie), but the title in question actually comes from a Jim Henson idea about Gonzo directing a movie that went so over budget it actually had to be shot incredibly inexpensively. At this point, your guess on all of that is as good as mine. The same goes for a release date, although since there's a director and since there's a star (who's also the writer and now a co-producer), Disney will probably take it more seriously. Maybe shoot this year for a 2011 release?

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