Melissa McCarthy is set to star and produce The Happytime Murders, a raunchy, R-rated puppet movie. Brian Henson, who is set to direct, will work under The Jim Henson Company’s Henson Alternative banner.
“When a really good script combines puppet strippers, Los Angeles’ underbelly and comedy, it’s like my fever dream has finally come true,” McCarthy said.
The comedy is set in the underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans co-exist. Two clashing detectives, one human (McCarthy) and one puppet, are forced to work together to figure out who is brutally murdering the former cast of The Happytime Gang, a beloved classic puppet show.
This is definitely not the Muppets, endearingly created by Jim Henson, that we are used to.
Here is artwork for the film, released back in 2012:
The project has been in the works for almost a decade now. A year ago, Jamie Foxx was in negotiations to star in The Happytime Murders. That has since fell through, and have now swapped out Foxx for McCarthy as the lead human character.
The film is set to begin production this August. It is produced by Henson Alternative, On The Day Productions, and STXfilms. The story is by Todd Berger & Dee Robertson; the screenplay is by Todd Berger with revisions by Erich & Jon Hoeber; further revisions by McCarthy.
What do you think of ‘The Happytime Murders‘ – an R-rated, murder mystery featuring Henson Company puppets? Discuss in the comments!
