Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:38 am
Yeah, I find most blu-rays to be underwhelming in the bonus features department these days.
“I worked on [‘The Muppets’] for half a decade. I’m incredibly proud of what I did,” Jason told Access Hollywood at the junket for his latest film, “The Five-Year Engagement” in Los Angeles on Friday. “My goal wasn’t to become a Muppet – I just wanted to restore The Muppets to The Muppets I grew up with and give them a platform to do everything that they want to do.”
Adding, “And now I feel I should pursue more human-related projects.”
“I had what I think was a really good idea for the Muppet re-launch and I didn’t have an organic idea ready for the sequel, so I thought leave it to someone who does,” he said.
When it was recently announced that Segel would be stepping aside for "The Muppets" sequel, which is being directed by Stoller (who is writing with James Bobin), most figured the actor would still have some sort of involvement. He’d probably contribute a few lines, hang around the set, at least make a cameo, right?
“No, no cameo,” Segel tells The Playlist. “It was a very distinct choice on my part. Of course I was asked to do it. I did exactly what I set out to do, if that makes any sense. My goal was never to take over the helm of ‘The Muppets.’ They have people who are better equipped for that. My only goal was to bring back the Muppets that I loved. And I did that. I kinda don’t know what I have left to do in that regard. I like doing these R-rated comedies. I loved working on ‘The Muppets’ but, you know, it took me six, seven years. That’s a lot of time working with puppets. I think I enjoy acting too much to repeat myself in any way. ‘Muppets 2’ would feel like repeating myself and I feel like maybe there would be no upside for me either. Well, it wasn’t as good as the first. I know where to leave it.”
Jason Segel's character Gary won't return for the sequel to The Muppets, but what of Walter, the new Muppet that Segel and co-writer Nicholas Stoller invented for the movie?
"Walter is coming back," Stoller reassured us last night at the premiere of his new movie The Five-Year Engagement. "Come on, you saw the first one, right? The arc of the story was, 'Am I a man or a Muppet?' Gary chose 'I am a man.' So if you were making something called The Mannets, Gary would be in that. Walter chose to be a Muppet. He realized he's a Muppet."
But will Walter be shuffled into the Muppets' deep bench, or will he be a plot driver in the sequel? "He is not making a cameo," said Stoller. "He is heavily involved in the story." Still, Muppet purists shouldn't fret about the focus: "It's in the early stages, so everything could change, but right now it's a Kermit-centric story, as a lot of the original movies were."
Disney Reveals Early Art for The Muppets 2Q: I know you're writing the Muppets sequel, but I always thought Jason was the puppet guy, so it's interesting that you're going off and writing the sequel with James. Did he just have other things he wanted to do and was too busy?
Nicholas Stoller: Yeah, we kind of felt like we completed Gary's story in the first one, and he's mostly interested in writing stuff for him to be in, which makes sense, right? (Laughs) He didn't want to go on and write the next one. I was like, "Do you care if I do it with James?" He's like, "Of course not."
Q: Do you generally work pretty close with the Muppeteers while you're in the writing stage ? What point do you bring them in?
Nicholas Stoller: The table read, probably, would be the first time, then we'll get their notes and incorporate their notes from that. But the table read is really early; it's not like right before you shoot it. Yeah, it's very early.
Q: I was wondering about that because Frank Oz and Jim Henson were the creative force behind the early movies and in this case, they're really working with outsiders who aren't puppeteers themselves.
Nicholas Stoller: One of the Muppet rules was - I'm sure we've talked about this a fair amount, was that the Muppets don't think of themselves as puppets. They think of themselves as people. Our original draft had Walter and Gary doing a puppet act on the Venice Boardwalk. So, that was something that early on we got to know from the puppeteers it doesn't work for a lot of reasons. We were like, "Oh right. Of course."
Production for the The Muppets sequel is set to begin in January and Ricky Gervais is in negotiations to as the Disney movie’s human lead character. The sequel is a European-centric adventure with a slew of cameos and three main human roles. Already on board is Ty Burrell as a lazy Interpol inspector.
Gervais' stature is being compared to the role played by Jason Segel in the 2011 movie. But the nature of Gervais' character is unknown because the script is being kept secret. Also unclear is whether the part calls for singing, a requirement for the first movie. Although Segel is not returning for the sequel, James Bobin, who directed the 2011 Muppets film is back as helmer and co-wrote the screenplay with Nicholas Stoller.
Thank you for finding that for me. I'll post this news in that thread and a Mod can lock this threadSotiris wrote:There's already a thread for the sequel: The Muppets 2
Almost like The Great Muppet Caper.disneyboy20022 wrote:The sequel is a European-centric adventure