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It was announced a few weeks back that FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS director James Bobin was signed to direct a new Muppet movie for Walt Disney Pictures, with a screenplay by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller of FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL fame. The film was to be titled THE CHEAPEST MUPPET MOVIE EVER MADE. It has now officially been changed to THE GREATEST MUPPET MOVIE OF ALL TIME.
According to a source at The Playlist, the story follows Gary, Mary, and Walter (a man, his girlfriend, and the man’s life-long nondescript, brown puppet best friend) getting the old Muppet gang — now retired entertainers known for the same Muppet show we know them from — together to save the TV studio that the original show was shot in. A villain, Tex Richman, bent on drilling for oil underneath the studio, is due to take over the studio in weeks and the only way to stop him? Putting on a show that draws ten million viewers.
This could be truly great, though Disney is saying filming is to begin this summer, and there’s still much work to be done on this one. The anonymous script reviewer notes that the story locks the Muppets inside the world of show business, and remarked that some of the best moments in other Muppet movies involved them in the “real world.” They did note that the script tries hard to recapture what made THE MUPPET SHOW and the first two movies so great. They call it a “fresh, younger approach. Stoller and Segel have fun with the characters, are aware of what made the Muppet early years so great (winks to the audience, friendly musical numbers, single gag repetition, friendship and togetherness being the answer to everything), and hit the mark 65% of the time.” Apparently there are no songs in the script, but those could make a big difference.
Source: ThePlaylist
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
