The Muppets (film)

The Muppets is a 2011 American musical comedy film directed by James Bobin, written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, and the seventh theatrical film featuring the Muppets. The film stars Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, and Rashida Jones, as well as Muppets performers Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, David Rudman, Matt Vogel, and Peter Linz. Bret McKenzie served as music supervisor, writing four of the film's five original songs, while Christophe Beck composed the film's score. In the film, devoted Muppet fan Walter, his human brother Gary and Gary's girlfriend Mary help Kermit the Frog reunite the disbanded Muppets, as they must raise $10 million to save the Muppet Theater from Tex Richman, a businessman who plans to demolish the studio to drill for oil.
Walt Disney Pictures first announced the film in March 2008, with Segel and Stoller as the screenwriters and Mandeville Films as co-producer. Bobin was hired to direct in January 2010, and the film's supporting cast was filled out in October of the same year with the casting of Adams, Cooper and Jones. Filming began in September 2010 and was completed entirely in Los Angeles. The film was the first theatrical Muppets production to not feature Frank Oz and Jerry Nelson as their respective roles. Instead, their characters are performed by Jacobson and Vogel, respectively, marking their theatrical feature film debut as those characters. Nelson does make an uncredited vocal appearance as the Muppet Telethon announcer though. It was his final performance before his death in 2012.
The Muppets premiered at the Savannah Film Festival and was released theatrically in North America on November 23, 2011, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $165 million worldwide on a budget of $45 million and garnering praise for its humor, screenplay and music. The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for McKenzie's song "Man or Muppet", as well as garnering BAFTA and Critic's Choice Awards nominations. A sequel, titled Muppets Most Wanted, was released on March 21, 2014.
Category:Films