Jason Segel Talks New Muppet Movie
Back to basics for Henson's creations.
With the highly anticipated Forgetting Sarah Marshall and his regular gig on How I Met Your Mother, Jason Segel is gearing up for his dream project. He is writing a new Muppet movie to bring back the Jim Henson puppets to their former glory. His simple story about the gang putting on a show to save the studio will utilize the classic characters and fully developed human characters.
"It's like the early '80s Muppets movies," said Segel. "Bringing it back to the Muppets putting on a show and working together, there's such a sense of hope that comes from the old Muppet movies. I just remember watching and thinking I could do anything. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to be writing a Muppet movie. Maybe it's a particularity for me, but Kermit is the man. Kermit's the original Jimmy Stewart, the original Tom Hanks. He's like the everyman when you're 10 years old. "
A Muppet geek, Segel knows where the recent films like Muppets from Space went wrong. "Well, I don't want to point any fingers, but a new approach has been taken that the Muppets were some sort of novelty act," said Segel. "The original movies, the Muppets are all treated like they're actors in the movie. The movie was written as though they were proper characters and they were also filled with these brilliant performances. Charles Grodin in The Great Muppet Caper is unbelievable. Nowadays it's just someone walking through going, 'Hey, was that Tom Selleck?' That doesn't interest me."
He connected with The Henson Company when they made puppets for a scene in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but had to pitch Disney, who now owns the Muppet rights. "They haven't really been doing much with the Muppets. So I went to Disney and I took this meeting. 'So, what's this all about, kid?' That's how executives talk. 'I would like to write the new Muppet movie.' And there is a weird spattering of laughter and then uncomfortable silence, like, 'Really? That's why you're here?' And I gave them the pitch and they really loved it. They bought it in the room and brought [Nick] Stoller on to write it with me because he's just the best creative partner you hope for."
Gimy on 03-19-2008 06:21 AM
i actually wondered why they haven't done anything with muppets in awhile since its probably cheaper than cgi. nice job Marshall...hopefully the dumb2ss at CBS who doesn't "get" HIMYM quits or gets fired. i'm so sick of hearing it might be canceled because the big wigs don't like it. i'll be p2ssed if it goes the way of Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared...
aj s. on 01-2-2009 10:11 AM
CGI is necessarily more expensive. One of the reasons no one could get near where Jim Henson had achieved with the muppets is in part b/c no one would/could pump that sort of money into that kind of project. The development and maintenance of the puppets and related production/crew costs is actually a lot more expensive then you'd think.
As far as going the way of Undeclared and freaks is unlikely considering HIMYM has been far more successful then those two shows combined. I love the show mostly b/c of Lilly and Marshall.. and i think it's that child like behavior that segel exudes that make me feel (aside from this article) that he knows what it takes to bring back the magic.. i for one, am super stoked.
aj s. on 01-2-2009 10:27 AM
i apologize.. i mean.. CGI is NOT necessarily more expensive.