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The Happytime Murders Red Band Trailer – Melissa McCarthy joins a grown-up puppet noir

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For quite a few years The Jim Henson Company has been working on The Happytime Murders, but despite plans to shoot in 2010 and 2012, and stars likes Katherine Heigl, Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx linked to it at various times, the project remained stuck in development hell. ​Now though it’s in the can with Melissa McCarthy starring, even if it did have a few troubles after the first trailer and poster was released, when the owners of Sesame Street sued them as they felt this very grown-up puppet movie was trying to link itself to the kids programme.

That lawsuit quickly went away, and now a new trailer has arrived to give us a fresh look at some very rude puppetry.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS is set in the underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans coexist. Two clashing detectives, one human and one puppet, are forced to work together to try and solve who is brutally murdering the former cast of “The Happytime Gang,” a beloved classic puppet show.’

Joel McHale, Maya Rudolph and Elizabeth Banks also star. Take a look at the new trailer below. The movie will be in cinemas on August 27th. [Read more…]

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The Happytime Murders Trailer – Melissa McCarthy joins a grown-up puppet noir

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For quite a few years The Jim Henson Company has been working on The Happytime Murders, but despite plans to shoot in 2010 and 2012, and stars likes Katherine Heigl, Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx linked to it at various times, the project remained stuck in development hell. ​Now though it’s in the can with Melissa McCarthy, and the first trailer has arrived to give us our first look at a movie that may have Henson style puppets, but certainly isn’t as family friendly as we’d usually expect.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS is set in the underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans coexist. Two clashing detectives, one human and one puppet, are forced to work together to try and solve who is brutally murdering the former cast of “The Happytime Gang,” a beloved classic puppet show.’

Joel McHale, Maya Rudolph and Elizabeth Banks also star. Take a look at the first trailer below. The movie will be in cinemas later this summer. [Read more…]

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Melissa McCarthy Joins Henson Puppet Noir, The Happytime Murders

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For quite a few years The Jim Henson Company has been working on The Happytime Murders, but despite plans to shoot in 2010 and 2012, and stars likes Katherine Heigl and Cameron Diaz linked to it at various times, the project has remained stuck in development hell. ​This time last year it seemed things were moving forward, as Jamie Foxx was circling the lead role.

It doesn’t look like he’s involved any more, but instead another great talent has come onboard, with Variety reporting that Melissa McCarthy is set to star. She comments, “When a really good script combines puppet strippers, Los Angeles’ underbelly, and comedy, it’s like my fever dream has finally come true.”

The basic concept of the film is that it’s set in a world where puppets are second-class citizens, but just as likely to get into booze, drugs and sex as any of their human counterparts. When the puppet cast of 1980s children’s TV show The Happytime Gang begins to get murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet (who has a drinking problem), Phil, takes the case with his former human partner. It’s been descibed as Avenue Q meets LA Confidential, which is quite a mash-up.

Jim Henson’s son Brian is set to direct the movie, which is due to finally start shooting in August.

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Jamie Foxx In Talks For Grown-Up Puppet Movie, The Happytime Murders

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jamie-foxxFor quite a few years The Jim Henson Company has been working on The Happytime Murders, but despite plans to shoot in 2010 and 2012, and stars likes Katherine Heigl and Cameron Diaz linked to it at various times, the project has remained stuck in development hell. However now the grown-up puppet film looks like it may be moving forward, as Deadline reports Jamie Foxx is in early talks to star.

The basic concept of the film is that it’s set in a world where puppets are second-class citizens, but just as likely to get into booze, drugs and sex as any of their human counterparts. When the puppet cast of 1980s children’s TV show The Happytime Gang begins to get murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet (who has a drinking problem), Phil, takes the case with his former human partner, Detective Edwards (Jamie Foxx). It’s been descibed as Avenue Q meets LA Confidential, which is quite a mash-up. There’s not much love lost between the two, with Phil annoyed at Edwards’ squeaky clean, by-the-book attitude.

Jim Henson’s son Brian is set to direct the movie. It’s not clear when it will shoot, but with STX Entertainment now backing the movie, it will hopefully move forward this time. [Read more…]

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