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Joel McHale has joined the cast of The Happytime Murders, the puppet comedy from STXfilms.
McHale joins Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph and Elizabeth Banks in the movie that is currently shooting in Los Angeles. Brian Henson is in the director’s seat.
Happytime Murders takes place in a world where humans and puppets coexist, with the puppets viewed as second-class citizens. When the puppet castmembers of 1980s children’s TV show The Happytime Gang begin turning up dead, an alcoholic, philandering, disgraced LAPD detective turned private-eye puppet takes the case with his former human partner (McCarthy).
McHale is playing a stern FBI agent who is working on the case.
Todd Berger, Dee Robertson, Erich and Jon Hoeber, and McCarthy wrote the script.
Producing are Brian Henson for The Jim Henson Company’s Henson Alternative, McCarthy and Ben Falcone for their banner, On The Day Productions, and Jeffrey Hayes.
McHale, who led the casts of TV’s Community and more recently, The Great Outdoors, will next be seen in the Netflix biopic of National Lampoon creator Doug Kenney, A Futile & Stupid Gesture, in which he portrays former Community co-star Chevy Chase. He will also appear in Sam Levinson’s upcoming thriller Assassination Nation.
McHale is repped by UTA, Anonymous Content and Ziffren Brittenham.
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