Muppets are becoming more of the “hip” thing, as big stars keep finding themselves cast in the newest film. Ricky Gervais and Emily Blunt are the latest high-profile celebrities to join the growing list of cameos in Disney’s newest Muppets movie. The specifics behind their cameos have yet to be announced.

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that the duo are joining a packed lineup that includes Alan Arkin, Jack Black, Billy Crystal, Zach Galifianakis and Jean-Claude Van Damme, who have appearances in a story that reunites the Muppets in order to save their movie studio from a developer. I smell musical numbers!

The new Muppets flick, directed by James Bobin, is currently being filmed in various locations around Los Angeles. Jason Segel, who co-wrote the script with Nicholas Stoller, is the human lead (no surprise here after his vampire number in Forgetting Sarah Marshall) while Amy Adams, Chris Cooper and Rashida Jones round out the cast of human leads.

Stay tuned to The Flickcast for the latest developments on the new Muppets movie.

Slowly but surely, Jim Henson’s legacy is growing bigger and bigger in the public eye, all thanks to the power of viral videos. The Muppets have pulled in millions of views and awards with their antics and music videos, while Sesame Street is still going strong on PBS with some impressive guest stars like Ryan Reynolds and Terrence Howard. It seems like one neighborhood monster in particular is aiming for the stars, as Cookie Monster has publicly put out an audition to host SNL.

The video is proof that the brilliant minds behind Sesame Street aren’t just making mindless children’s entertainment, as Cookie Monster refers to himself as a glutton and spoofs things like MacGruber, Lady GaGa, and the format of SNL itself. There is even an official Facebook campaign to make this happen. That’s right, this is real.

Not many remember this, but Henson’s Muppets and Lorne Michael’s SNL have a history dating back to the first season of SNL, when the Muppets got their very first time in the spotlight on the show once a week. So before you write the idea off as being another gimicky hosting trend, it could very well happen.

Check out the audition after the jump, and by all means, help Cookie Monster host SNL!

Continue Reading →

Who doesn’t love a good old fashioned movie by the folks who’ve brought us The Muppets for decades? Well, how about a new-fashioned crime noir story about a series of puppets that get murdered? Still interested? Of course you are. Genre-friendly studio Lionsgate has recently obtained the rights to Happytime Murders, a noir film from the first family of Muppets, the Hensons. From Heat Vision.

“Happytime Murders,” a comedy-thriller written by Todd Berger and to be directed by Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson, has landed at Lionsgate.

The project has been in development at the Jim Henson Co. since October 2008, when it picked up Berger’s script as a spec. Lionsgate’s acquisition gives the risky project — a dark and adult story featuring puppets — a real shot at getting made, with insiders talking of a possible January start, depending on how soon a star can be found for the lead.

The film takes place in a world where both humans and puppets co-habitate the world, much like Greg The Bunny, and a series of murders take place at a local children’s program–you guessed it–The Happytime Gang, and they enlist the help of a disgraced cop turned private investigator with a drinking problem.

Continue Reading →

Last week, we brought you a great video from the online Lost Slapdown campaign from ABC in which The Muppets harass Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about Lost. In these videos, the network takes a lighter look at the ending of the series as we count down to the finale this Sunday night.

Knowing that ABC is owned by Disney, that gives the chance for great crossovers from some old favorites such as The Muppets. Also, who wouldn’t love to see Lost co-creator Carlton Cuse chat it up with the Swedish Chef about the ending?

In the two videos after the jump, you’ll get just that, as well as a pretty funny video in which PePe the King Prawn, Bobo the Bear, and Carl all audition with Lindelof and Cuse to play the famed Smoke Monster. There are some classic Muppet moments, so any fan of either franchise will most certainly be entertained.

Check out the videos after the jump, and be sure to catch the 2 hour series finale of Lost this Sunday at 7 ET on ABC.

Continue Reading →

With LOST ending in less than a month, just about everybody is scrapping together anything they can to try to figure out where creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse could possible take the show in it’s final hours. That list of people includes just about every fan of the show out there, including a few hapless Muppets.

For those who haven’t been keeping up, Muppet Studios has recently had a resurrection in the form of viral videos on YouTube. They were nominated for two Webby awards for their Bohemian Rhapsody cover, and have pumped out a new video just about every month.

They’ve recently focused their attention of Disney’s ABC with LOST. In a great episode of the web series LOST Slapdown, which you can check out after the jump, Rizzo the Rat and Bobo the Bear break into Lindelof and Cuse’s office to get some answers to some of the most hard-hitting questions we fans have been asking since day one.

It’s pretty entertaining to see the two worlds collide, and to see Lindelof’s acting. Also, if you’re looking for some more Muppet/LOST integration, check out the weekly LOST Untangled web recaps, which feature a Muppet-ized version of Dr. Chang, which was developed by Henson Studios.

Continue Reading →

We’re in what most fans like to call a “Muppet Lull” right now. Hard to believe, but The Muppets haven’t been in theaters since 1999, when Muppets in Space was panned by critics. Sure, we’ve been given a few TV movies to snack on in the past few years, but they barely hold a candle to the originality of The Great Muppet Caper or Muppets Take Manhattan.

Then, suddenly about six months ago, a few Muppet viral videos started popping up on YouTube, in which the famed Waldorf and Statler would comment on certain “new” and “hip” Internet fads. Those videos became instant hits, and Muppet Studios started putting out more and more.

As of late, on of their more popular videos surfaced in the mainstream, in the form of a “Bohemian Rhapsody” spoof. The video tallied over 20 million views, and the faith in the Muppet generation was immediately revitalized.

Last week, the epic studio released a new holiday song. Carol of the Bells, in Muppet form. Starring some of the fan favorites that aren’t necessarily the A-list characters; Swedish Chef, Animal, and Beaker. Check out the new video below, and if this doesn’t get you into the holiday spirit, nothing will.

Continue Reading →

Not many know this, but PBS’s Sesame Street has aired 4,186 episodes since it’s debut in 1969, making it one of the longest running shows since the news, and THE longest running show with Muppets. In that time, there have been some pretty impressive cameos and references from Will Arnett to President Obama.

In the past few years, the educational series has been aiming it’s programming not only at their desired child demographic, but their parents as well. With last year’s Elmo’s Christmas Countdown special, Ben Stiller hosted, with special appearances by Paulie from The Sopranos and more.

It looks like even the non-specials are getting the same cross-age treatment, as a recent episode had a parody of the hit AMC series Mad Men. The skit was obviously written for the literal jokes, (“We are MAD men!”), but there are a few funny moments, including how they worked the word “sycophants” into the script. Check it out after the jump.

Continue Reading →

There’s plenty of news developing from Disney’s D23 out of Anaheim, from Johnny Depp showing up dressed as Jack Sparrow to the company releasing just about everything in Digital 3D. What looks to be one of the biggest developments for a Disney property is the amount of things planned for the Muppet franchise, and the direction that the newest film is taking.

Not only is the newest film, The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made, hitting theaters in the next 18 months, but it’s said to be a story that Jim Henson came up with before his death. In the story, Gonzo decides to direct a film with all of his friends, but blows the budget on the opening titles. This would be the first Muppet theatrical release since 1999′s Muppets From Space.

On top of the new film in production, the felt franchise is also planning a new cooking show for the Food Network co-starring Cat Cora and yes, the Swedish Chef! ABC is also scheduling a Muppet Halloween special to air next year, and last year’s TV movie Muppet’s Letters To Santa will finally be getting a DVD release.

Along with the movie and TV news, the Muppets are also getting a revamp in the world of technology. Muppets.com is getting a complete overhaul, to look more like Facebook for the characters. You can also expect to see new iPhone and Blackberry apps that showcase our googly-eyed favorites hitting your device in the next year .

Continue Reading →