Okay, so we all got a good laugh yesterday when Katherine Heigl signed on to that ridiculous "Face Blind" thriller, but we have to give her kudos for this movie. It seems she's using her power for good instead of evil.
Brian Henson's long developing "Happytime Murders" is probably one of the most talked about unmade scripts knocking around Hollywood. Penned by Todd Berger ("Kung Fu Panda 2") and in development at the Jim Henson Co. since 2008, the project was described by the director as an R-rated "gritty crime thriller and a satire of the genre and a balls-out comedy" which already caused it to be a difficult prospect to get made. The story is set in a world where humans and puppets co-exist, and follows a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-P.I. puppet who teams with a former human partner to take on the case of a murderer, who is killing off the cast of an '80s children's television show called "The Happytime Gang" one by one. So yeah, sounds pretty awesome. There was some hope we'd see it soon when Lionsgate snapped up the project in 2010, but nothing was heard since.
Well, of all people, Heigl is now negotiating to star and the movie heads to the European Film Market next week to try and find some buyers. No word on what Heigl's role will be exactly, but we presume this is one of those high concept projects that will need some healthy pre-sales before anyone gives it a greenlight. Here's hoping enough people take a chance on it. [Deadline]
