The Happytime Murders doesn’t sound like a project we’d immediately associate with Katherine Heigl. For starters it's not a soapy rom-com with a generically amateurish nursery rhyme title (One For the Money, The Ugly Truth). And yet, Deadline claims that Heigl is in "advanced negotiations" to play the lead role in what sounds like a remarkably clever and imaginative murder noir, so we may see her in Happytime Murders sometime soon.
The premise of Happytime Murders is deliciously gonzo. Screenwriter Todd Berger (Kung Fu Panda 2) pens from an idea he cooked up with Dee Austin Robertson. It takes place in a fictionalized world where humans and puppets live hand-in-felt-hand. When a serial killers wipes out the cast of a popular ‘80s kids show, a disgraced detective (the role Heigl’s circling) steps forward to investigate the gruesome murders.
Now, if I’m being honest, this sounds far too original for Heigl, whose comfort zone has proven to be relationship comedies with the likes of Josh Duhamel, James Marsden and Gerard Butler. Yes, she thought outside of the box when she played Seth Rogen’s love interest in Knocked Up, but she promptly shit-talked Judd Apatow and the material in subsequent press interviews.
But, I’m never willing to completely write off a performer, and if Heigl’s daring enough to challenge herself with a puppet-based murder mystery, more power to her. Brian Henson, director of The Muppets Christmas Carol and Muppets Treasure Island, is on board for Happytime Murders, so we’ll have to see if he has faith that Heigl can pull it off. The story sounds awesome. Let’s hope the casting falls in line.
