‘Muppets 2′ Casts Ricky Gervais to Replace Jason Segel
'The Muppets' sequel is moving along at full-speed, and following the announcement last week that 'Modern Family's Ty Burrell joined the cast, now comes word that Ricky Gervais is in talks to play one of the human leads as well.
THR reports that Ricky Gervais is currently in talks to join the cast of 'The Muppets 2' alongside the previously announced addition of Ty Burrell. If this pans out, we're looking at one hell of a talented comedic cast for the sequel to last year's film, which found the Muppets attempting to save their theater from an evil oil tycoon.
In the second film, the Muppets will head off to Europe where they'll encounter a lazy Interpol agent (Burrell). There are three human leads in the film, and Gervais would play one of them, with his part being compared to Jason Segel's in the first film. There is also a female lead, but details about the plot and script are being held tightly under wraps at the moment.
Gervais shot a cameo as himself in the original 'Muppets' but it was cut from the final film.
Production begins in January, with a script from Nicholas Stoller and James Bobin; Bobin will also return to the director's chair for the sequel. Stoller co-wrote the first script with Jason Segel, who will sadly not be returning for the second Muppets outing.