Every year, The Black List features the best screenplays that have yet to be made by Hollywood producers. While this may seem like an insider baseball term for the industry, odds are you've seen a few movies that popped up on the list in the past. Argo, Passengers, A Monster Calls, The Hunger Games- these films all made The Black List well before they became hits. Every so often, a title will appear on the list with a concept so brilliant and wildly original that you can't help but wonder how it hasn't been made yet. While I was browsing the lists a few years ago, I stumbled upon a movie called The Happytime Murders, an R-rated puppet extravaganza about a world where humans and Muppets collide. This is the kind of wonderfully stupid idea that I tend to love, and my mind was thrilled by the idea of a filthy puppet noir comedy. The film sat in development hell for a long time, but STX Films and iconic Muppet director Brian Henson finally got the ball rolling last year. After showcasing footage to insiders and executives at CinemaCon back in April, STX has released the first red band trailer for the film, which will play in front of select screenings of Deadpool 2 this weekend. And wow, it's truly a sight to behold. Check out the first trailer for The Happytime Murders below!
So The Happytime Murders looks appropriately crazy, and I'm totally down for all the madness that Henson has in store for us. The obvious comparison point here is Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's Sausage Party, which flipped Pixar's brand of animation upside down with non-stop F-bombs and a full-on food orgy for a finale. But while that film certainly relied on the sheer shock value of talking food spouting off all kinds of vulgarities, it was also a surprisingly thoughtful and clever meditation on religion and spirituality. So that's the question for The Happytime Murders- is the appeal of watching raunchy puppet behavior the film's only selling or is there a strong story to be told here? This initial red band trailer is relying heavily on the idea of catching viewers off-guard with ribald jokes and puppet sex, but I'm slightly concerned that it's just a little too obvious. There's an art to making something filthy and vulgar while also being witty and sharp, and I hope The Happytime Murders finds that balance. It's a brilliant concept, and there's no doubt in my mind that this film will be hilarious. I just hope it ends up being a little more than that.
The Happytime Murders opens on August 17.
So The Happytime Murders looks appropriately crazy, and I'm totally down for all the madness that Henson has in store for us. The obvious comparison point here is Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's Sausage Party, which flipped Pixar's brand of animation upside down with non-stop F-bombs and a full-on food orgy for a finale. But while that film certainly relied on the sheer shock value of talking food spouting off all kinds of vulgarities, it was also a surprisingly thoughtful and clever meditation on religion and spirituality. So that's the question for The Happytime Murders- is the appeal of watching raunchy puppet behavior the film's only selling or is there a strong story to be told here? This initial red band trailer is relying heavily on the idea of catching viewers off-guard with ribald jokes and puppet sex, but I'm slightly concerned that it's just a little too obvious. There's an art to making something filthy and vulgar while also being witty and sharp, and I hope The Happytime Murders finds that balance. It's a brilliant concept, and there's no doubt in my mind that this film will be hilarious. I just hope it ends up being a little more than that.
The Happytime Murders opens on August 17.
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