I haven’t spoken to anyone who didn’t enjoy The Muppets, one of the best movies to revive a long-dormant franchise to come along in a long time (if you recall, I gave the film a perfect score, but I am pretty crazy for those puppets). It even nabbed Jim Henson’s creations their first Oscar for Best Original Song at last Sunday’s Oscars. So with the franchise now revitalized by a healthy box office take both here and overseas, it’s obvious that Disney (which now owns the Muppets) is readying a sequel.
And according to New York Magazine, director James Bobin and original co-writer Nicholas Stoller have signed on for the sequel. However, Jason Segel, who starred and co-wrote The Muppets, won’t be able to participate in the writing because of his promotion commitments to his numerous upcoming film projects (such as The Five Year Engagement and This Is Forty) and How I Met Your Mother. Though the original article suggested that Segel might still star in the film, in an interview with Collider Segel is clear that he doesn’t think the right move would be him appearing in the movie:
“My goal was to bring The Muppets back and I did that leaving them in very good hands, my writing partner and James Bobin the director. I did what I set out to do, and now I wanna pursue more human-related projects (laughs)… All I wanted to do was to set the stage for them to do whatever they wanted. I’m sure I’ll return in some capacity here and there, but that was half a decade of my life. Five years of hard work. I’m ready for a little puppet break.”
As much as I enjoyed The Muppets, I don’t think I’d like to see Segel star in the sequel. Segel, Amy Adams, and the legions of guest stars helped reintroduce the Muppets to new audiences, but I think the gang should take sole center stage in the next movie. After all, there really has never been a consistent human cast with the Muppets, and they seemed to do quite well without them before.
Recent Comments