Happytime Murders bought by Lionsgate
Henson puppet black comedy on the move
Muppet fans rejoice – the Henson Company’s R-rated puppet crime thriller Happytime Murders has been picked up by Lionsgate and is looking to shoot this January.
Snapped up as a spec script by producers Lisa and Brian Henson - Jim’s kids - in 2008, the story sees muppets living side-by-side with humans as second class citizens.
When the goggly-eyed muppet cast of ‘80s TV show The Happytime Gang get murdered one at a time, an alcoholic PI puppet teams up with his human former partner to solve the crimes.
The only word that springs to mind with that premise is: Genius. For lovers of the awesome season five Angel episode ‘Smile Time’, in which kids show puppets came to life to suck the souls out of children, this should be a real treat.
Right now a lead actor is being sought out (presumably for that human PI role), and considering the tone of the film we’re sure people like Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson are being approached.
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Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.
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