If Hollywood was to open up its wallet right now, there’s a pretty good chance that it will be filled with nothing but old condoms that it once got from a vending machine in some dingy club in the 90’s. You see, for the most part, Hollywood is creatively bankrupt.
But every once in a while, something really imaginative like Happytime Murders comes along. It’s a mature noir film, about a disgraced cop turned private eye on the trail of a brutal serial killer that killed his brother. The catch? It’s about puppets!
And now, courtesy of Collider, some new concept art for the deliciously twisted film has been unveiled:
The concept art shows disheveled puppet private eye Phil Phillips, perched on a desk with smoking cigarette in hand, investigating the gruesome – just look at all that stuffing! – murder scene of a rabbit and what appears to be a giant bird in a puppet porn shop.
Now that’s a sentence that I never expected to be typing this morning, but I’m sure as hell happy that I did.
The film’s full synopsis has also been revealed along with the concept art:
In a world where puppets co-exist with humans as second class citizens, puppet private eye and disgraced ex-cop, Phil Phillips, is hot on the trail of the serial killer who murdered his brother and is now targeting the cast members of the famous 80s television show, “The Happytime Gang.” As the killings continue, Phil’s former flame, Jenny, is next on the list. It’s up to Phil and his ex-partner, Detective Edwards, to find the culprit, but as bad blood and old resentments resurface the clues start pointing to the only viable suspect, Phil himself. Now he’s on the run with only his wits and hard headed determination, as he tries to solve, “The Happytime Murders.”
It’s been reported that current rom-com bomb queen, Katherine Heigl, may be taking the female lead in the film, while Todd Berger will be providing the script. Brian Henson (son of puppet legend Jim Henson) will be in the director’s chair.
Last Updated: March 14, 2012
Wtf?
March 14, 2012 at 16:26
Not to piss on your “originality” parade, but something similiar was done in Angel episode, Smile Time:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0512900/
Kervyn Cloete
March 14, 2012 at 16:41
I know all about that (Whedon fanboy over here) and was considering mentioning it, but realized that besides for the puppet angle, there isn’t that much similarity between the two.
If I had to find similarities, then this would have more in common with Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Tracy Benson
March 14, 2012 at 16:45
Who Framed Roger Rabbit was my knee-jerk reaction as well.
Theunis Jansen Van Rensburg
March 16, 2012 at 13:25
Other than that though, I still believe this is a breath of fresh air!