Jamie Foxx in Negotiations to Star in Noir Puppet Film THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS
Jamie Foxx is in early talks to star in The Happytime Murders, STX Entertainment’s dark, R-rated puppet project, Deadline reported. Foxx is being considered for a role as a detective investigating a puppet murder. The comedy is to be a co-production from STX and Jim Henson Company and is something like an LA Confidential-type riff on The Muppets, or a Muppet equivalent of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? with humans and puppets as characters.
Brian Henson, son of the late Jim Henson, is on board to direct this project which has been in the works since 2008. STX picked up the project in the summer of 2015, intrigued by the concept.
The Happytime Murders takes place in a world where humans and puppets coexist, with the puppets viewed as second-class citizens. When the puppet cast members of a 1980s children’s TV show The Happytime Gang begin turning up dead, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet takes the case with his former human partner.
Todd Berger and Dee Robertson wrote the initial drafts, with the latest script by Erich and Jon Hoeber, the brothers who wrote Red and Red 2.
Foxx’s upcoming projects including the role of Little John in Robin Hood: Origins and an appearance in Edgar Wright’s latest, Baby Driver.
