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Melissa McCarthy Will Produce and Star in a Movie About a Serial Killer of Puppets

She’s playing a human who investigates crimes with her puppet partner.

Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images

Melissa McCarthy is one of the highest-paid actresses in the world, so if she wants to produce and star in a movie about puppets being murdered, then who are we to doubt her? McCarthy has signed on to produce and star in The Happytime Murderers, a project nine years in the making from the Jim Henson Co., set in a world in which humans and puppets live side by side. Accordingly, McCarthy’s co-star will be an alcoholic, ex–Los Angeles Department of Police puppet, and together, they will investigate a series of murders of puppet cast members of a fictional 1980s television show, The Happytime Gang.

Jamie Foxx was previously being considered for a role in the film (as the human), but negotiations fell though. McCarthy, who will also revise the script, seems eager to get started. “When a really good script combines puppet strippers, Los Angeles’ underbelly and comedy, it’s like my fever dream has finally come true,” she said in a statement. Depending on how you feel about puppets, this may also be a dream come true for you—or a scene lifted straight from your nightmares. Either way, the R rating will ensure something a little edgier than The Great Muppet Caper.