Disney’s crack team behind the 2011 Muppets movie are back in action as they kick off production for the upcoming sequel The Muppets…Again! in London. The all new global Muppet adventure brings in new stars Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell and Tina Fey, who will join Kermit, Miss Piggy, Walter and the rest of the felt-skinned crew. The film is set to hit theaters March 21, 2014.
Muppets…Again! takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theaters in some of Europe’s most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid and London. But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine—the World’s Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit—and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two, portrayed by Gervais. Fey will play feisty prison guard Nadya, and Burrell will appear as Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon.
The film is being directed by James Bobin (Flight of the Conchords, Da Ali G Show) who was recently nominated for a BAFTA (Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer) for his work on The Muppets, and produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman (The Fighter, The Proposal), with screenplay by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller (The Five-Year Engagement)—who is also exec producer with John Scotti. The sequel will feature music by Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords) who won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the previous film’s “Man or Muppet.”
“It’s great to be back working with the Muppets,” said Bobin, “some of them even remember my name occasionally now. As for the movie, it’s a tip of the hat to the old-school crime capers of the ’60s, but featuring a frog, a pig, a bear and a dog—no panthers, even pink ones—along with the usual Muppet-y mix of mayhem, music and laughs.”
You can follow the Muppets’ progress on Facebook (/muppets) and Twitter (@MuppetStudio). You can also check out the cute First Look interview at insidermovies.ew.com.
