Jamie Foxx Wants To Star In R-Rated Puppet Film ‘The Happytime Murders’


Oscar award-winning actor Jamie Foxx is in talks to join a puppet film for adults, according to news reports. The Annie actor is rumored to star in The Happpytime Murders, which will be produced by the Jim Henson Company and STX Entertainment.

Katie Holmes’ rumored beau will take on the role of Detective Edwards, according to Deadline. The character is one of the LAPD cops tasked to investigate the mysterious deaths of the members of the famous TV show The Happytime Gang.

Detective Edwards’ new assignment will force him to team up again with his former partner named Phil, who is not a fan of the Edwards’ good-cop character. The duo will then try to crack the case, but not without butting heads along the way.

The action comedy film, which is expected to get an R-Rating, will be directed by Brian Henson. The Happytime Murders was first conceptualized in 2008. By 2012, production released concept artwork for the planned movie, but the project got stalled.

Despite the span of time that the movie was in development, STX only got interested in the unique project in 2015, and that was when they decided to team up with the Henson Company.

Jamie Foxx’s The Happytime Murders is set in a fictional world where humans and puppets co-exist with the latter being treated as a minority group. In the story, the members of the cast of The Happytime Gang were considered among the most famous celebrities in their town.

However, the seemingly friendly and innocent puppets are not as wholesome as the public thinks. One by one the members of the famous TV show are being mysteriously killed, and the human cops must work fast to solve the crime.

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,” the official synopsis reads.

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.

If Jamie Foxx pushes through starring in The Happytime Murders, he will be working with a host of creative minds including Todd Berger and Dee Robertson, who wrote the initial drafts of the dark R-Rated puppet movie. Erich and Jon Hoeber, the brothers who penned Red and Red 2, are also part of the production as they provided the latest scripts.

The Happytime Murders will mark Jamie Foxx’s return to comedy. The actor, who rose to fame via his comedy roles in the past, won an Academy Award for his outstanding performance in Ray back in 2004. He was last seen on the big screens in 2014 as part of the cast of Annie.

Jamie Foxx will have quite a busy year this 2016 as he was also tapped to star in the American remake of the upcoming French drama-thriller movie, Sleepless Night. The actor even has several films lined up for next year already.

He will be taking on the role of little John in Lionsgate’s Robin Hood: Origins. Katie Holmes’ rumored boyfriend is also part of the cast of Baby Driver, an action-comedy film written and directed by Edgar Wright.

Jamie Foxx has yet to confirm the news linking him to The Happy Time Murders.

[Photo by Jason Kempin / Getty Images]

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