Melissa McCarthy to Star in Puppet Noir Thriller ‘The Happytime Murders’

Melissa McCarthy is set to star and produce The Happytime Murders, a raunchy, R-rated puppet movieBrian 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.


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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:

henson happytime murders art concept

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!

 

Michael Fromm
Michael Frommhttps://www.michaelefromm.com/
Michael E. Fromm is an all-around scrivener, writing screenplays (short and feature), short stories, novels, poetry, blogs, articles, and press releases. Since first learning to hold a pen, he has done little but read, watch, and write about characters and worlds of fantasy. It would be very difficult to find him without a pen in hand and an idea in mind, which is problematic for anyone wanting to have a conversation with him. Michael graduated from Rowan University, primarily focusing on improving his skills as a filmmaker and screenwriter. After said schooling, he joined an elite force of Rowan grads who also had the notion of becoming filmmakers. This group, known as Justice Productions, call on him every so often to write short films. And, until this whole writing thing pays off, Michael currently does development & marketing communication (writing, graphic & publication design, social media and website upkeep, etc.) for a web development company in Central New Jersey, where he currently resides.