FIRST LOOK

First Look at Ricky Gervais, Kermit and More in 'The Muppets...Again!'

by Ethan Anderton
January 30, 2013
Source: EW

After their return to the big screen in The Muppets, Disney has officially announced production of The Muppets…Again! That's right, the official title has been revealed, and to hype the production currently shooting in London, we now have some plot details. In the sequel, Kermit the Frog and his gang are taking a world tour, but find themselves tangled up with a criminal mastermind named Constantine, who is out to steal an enormous diamond and who happens to be a dead ringer for Kermit." So that's the source of the caper, and human lead Ricky Gervais is playing Constantine's villainous sidekick. See photos below!

The first photos from James Bobin's The Muppets…Again! from EW (click for high-res versions):

And for good measure, Kermit sat down with the magazine to chat about the sequel in a cute interview. When asked about rounding the gang up for another movie so soon after their last outing, Kermit said:

I think everyone was pretty happy to do it. But, you know, Fozzie has been hibernating—it’s been tough to bring him to London this time of year and keep him awake. And the Dr. Teeth Band had to cancel a couple of engagements. They were playing at this little bar in Hoboken and they let that go just to come to London to do the movie.

So since Kermit has a doppleganger, does that mean he'll be playing double roles? The frog says:

No. We talked about putting me in makeup and having me play both roles, but we decided Constantine needed to be a guy who could do a Russian accent. And, you know, I’m a pretty accomplished actor and all, but besides the Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island films, I’ve only really ever played myself. The great thing is, I have like 3,000 relatives back in the swamp, so it was quite easy to find a frog who could play Constantine.

There's some other hilarious questions and answers from the frog, including talk of not going to France for obvious reasons, so you can check the rest of the interview out at EW. I'm glad to hear that we have a plot and title for the sequel, and it sounds like it's going to be a fun, classic caper. Director James Bobin says, "I always loved those classic jewel-heist capers from the ’60s and ’70s, so I was very keen to do a movie that had elements of that [genre] featuring the Muppets and comedy and songs." And we're pretty sure almost everyone is keen to see it next spring.

The Muppets…Again! is directed by James Bobin who also co-wrote the script with Nicholas Stoller (who wrote The Muppets with Jason Segel). Ricky Gervais takes a lead human role this time as the villainous sidekick of a frog named Constantine, a criminal mastermind who is out to steal an enormous diamond. But since the frog is a dead wringer for Kermit, the Muppets find themselves on the run while on tour in Europe. Tina Fey, Ty Burrell, Ray Liotta and more also star in the film which is currently slated to hit theaters in just over a year next spring on March 21st, 2014. There's likely more casting to come very soon so stay tuned.

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