'Muppets' Portrayers Worry About The Latest Film

The oddity of another Muppets movie is certainly tantalizing to watch.  Even more so than that is made possibly by screenwriter and comedic actor extraordinaire Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother, Forgetting Sarah Marshall).  Many of the veteran performers have come to question The Muppets and whether Segel has fully understood who the characters are supposed to be compared to their previous film appearances.

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Great New 'Muppets' Trailer Parody

The Muppets have got a great marketing team behind them, releasing trailer parodies of popular summer movies like The Hangover 2 and Green Lantern.  Now, after two months or so without a parody teaser, they give us The Pig With The Froggy Tattoo.

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'Happytime Murders': It's 'Avenue Q' Meets 'L.A. Confidential'

Lionsgate has acquired the rights to Happytime Murders, a comedy/thriller that is being developed by Jim Henson Co. and will be directed by Brian Henson, Jim Henson's son. While news that the Jim Henson Co. is making a puppet movie may sound somewhat mundane, things get more bizarre when you discover the plot of the film.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the story is as follows:

Happytime takes place in a world where humans and puppets co-exist, with the puppets viewed as second-class citizens. When the puppet cast of an ’80s children's TV show called The Happytime Gang begins to get murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet - with a drinking problem, no less - takes on the case with his former human partner. Think Avenue Q meets L.A. Confidential.

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Release Date Tango: 'Piranha,' Muppets, 'Beastly'

Let's catch you up on a few release date changes and new announcements. It's been a very busy time for erasing the calendar, and this week there were a few major movies that were worthy of mention. Dinner for Schmucks has moved back a week and now opens July 30th. I think that's a strategic move and doesn't reflect poor quality. Those delays, as you'll see, are a lot longer.

The new Piranha 3-D made a similar move, backing up to August 27th. Because that's a 3-D movie, it might be for technical releases, but we'll presume it's strategic, as well, just taking advantage of the films around it. There's also a release date for Disney's next Muppet movie, tentatively called The Muppets. That's going to be a holiday flick next year, with the studio locking in December 25, 2011, which is two days after Tintin and nine days after Alvin and the Chipmunks. So that's competitive. Hugo Cabret is also out that same month. I hope kids like movies in 18 months.

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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.

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