A few days ago, it was reported by Vulture that Walt Disney Picture were moving forward with a sequel to their 2011 movie The Muppets, although it was stated “co-writer and leading man Jason Segel’s involvement is not so certain as prior commitments are preventing him from being involved in the pre-production stage.”
Collider had a chance to talk to Jason Segel earlier today at the press day for Segel’s new movie Jeff, Who Lives at Home and they confirmed that Segel not only won’t be returning as a writer for the sequel but also may not be appearing in the movie at all.
This may come as a surprise to regular ComingSoon.net readers who know what a big fan Segel has been of the Muppets since childhood, as well as how many years he spent trying to bring the Muppets back to the big screen.
When asked about this decision, he said it was “totally amicable,” telling them:
“My goal was to bring The Muppets back and I did that leaving them in very good hands, my writing partner and James Bobin the director. All I wanted to do was to set the stage for them to do whatever they wanted. I did what I set out to do, and now I wanna pursue more human-related projects. Im sure Ill return in some capacity here and there, but that was half a decade of my life. Five years of hard work. Im ready for a little puppet break.
You can watch the “Muppets”-related section of Collider’s interview with Segel here.