The Happytime Murders is an R-rated comedic murder mystery that imagines a Los Angeles where humans and Henson-like puppets somehow coexist. It’s been in the works since 2008, with a number of people joining and then leaving as the project foundered. A year ago, Jamie Foxx was attached to star, but he left the project. Now, Melissa McCarthy is leading the project, and her Bridesmaids co-star Maya Rudolph joined up this week to help solve crime.
The Muppets have been mired in a sort of scandal recently, started by the firing of Steve Whitmore, who had been the voice and hands of Kermit the Frog since the untimely death of Jim Henson in 1990. Now, Henson’s son Brian Henson has offered some more insight into the matter.
The Happytime Murders has been in the works since 2008, with STX Entertainment stepping in last summer to put Brian Henson’s R-rated puppet crime movie back in development. It’s been several months since the last update on the long-gestating project, but it looks as though things are finally picking up, as Jamie Foxx is in talks to star in the film — but is he a man, or is he a puppet?
For years now, the Jim Henson Company has been working on getting a very different kind of puppet movie to the big screen. Brian Henson has gotten a second chance at making The Happytime Murders, which has been in various stages of development since 2008. Described as Avenue Q meets L.A. Confidential, The Happytime Murders has been one of the trickier projects to get off the ground, but the son of the late, legendary Jim Henson may have better luck this time around.