While The Muppets still has plenty of fans and remains a valuable property for Disney, they can’t seem to figure out what to do with it. 2011 saw the release of the film, simply titled The Muppets, which grossed a solid $165 million off a $45 million budget and it looked like the brand was back on its feet, before the sequel, Muppets Most Wanted, bombed and led Disney back to square one.
Instead of another film, they decided upon a 2016 series at ABC done in the mockumentary style of The Office, but it was cancelled after one season. But after two failed attempts to bring the beloved characters back into our lives, Disney is having another crack at it, this time being housed on Disney’s upcoming streaming service.
There aren’t any details regarding the series yet, and the studio is currently searching for a writer who will offer a new take on the property.
So it’s basically just a plan right now, and from a business perspective it makes sense since the studio is going to have to draw subscribers to their new service whenever it debuts. And as we’ve seen from Netflix, a mass of content of all kinds is how a streaming giant can emerge. Disney isn’t going to compete with Netflix by just putting all their movies on there.
The new Muppetsseries may join other potential series on the service such as a show based on Monsters, Inc., a High School Musical reboot, an adaptation of The Mighty Ducks, and biggest of all, a live-action series based on Star Wars.
This was also the major reason for Disney’s acquisition of Fox; to have an even larger array of content available for their streaming service, which doesn’t yet have a release date, but is expected to be available towards the end of 2019.
The Muppets will likely be a part of the launch in some way, and it’ll be interesting to see who Disney gets on board for this latest reboot, and in what new direction they can take Kermit and the gang.
#Peace.Love.Muppets
