Jason Segel to pen new Muppets Movie
Posted on March 25th, 2008 by Hot Momma
For a guy growing up wanting to be Kermit The Frog, writing the new Muppets movie is a dream come true. So it goes for the actor/writer Jason Segel who literally begged Disney bosses to let him pen the new film. And when they initially turned him down he wowed them with his knowledge of the lovable puppet stars. Segal is a veteran of Apatow productions such as Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, Knocked Up, and he also scripted Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
The Knocked Up funny man says,
“I’ve had a fascination with puppets my entire life. I remember thinking that Kermit The Frog was Tom Hanks. He was the everyman, like Jimmy Stewart. I wanted to be him, which was weird because I knew he was a puppet but I still wanted to be Kermit The Frog.
In “Sarah Marshall” Segel’s character writes a “Dracula” musical performed by puppets. Those cloth creatures were custom-made by the Henson puppeteers, and the experience emboldened Segel to pitch his concept for a Muppets movie when he was invited in for a general meeting with exec Kristin Burr.
“I went to Disney and I said, ‘Guys, I would like to write the new Muppet movie,’ and there was a weird spattering of laughter in the room. Then I pitched it to them and gave them my Muppets knowledge and they bought the pitch, so it’s a little boy’s dream come true.”
The Muppets’ screen fortunes could use a boost. From 1979’s The Muppet Movie, to the 1984’s The Muppets Take Manhattan were all solid box-office performers. However subsequent films haven’t fared as well. The original movies were as appealing to parents as they were to kids, but perhaps lost that edge in the later films. So Segel’s involvement is encouraging, to say the least.
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