The Happytime Murders Red Band Trailer (2018)

Red Band Trailer for The Happytime Murders, starring Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale, Elizabeth Banks and Bill Barretta.

In a world where puppets co-exist with humans as second class citizens, Phil Phillips (Bill Barretta), puppet private eye and disgraced ex-cop, is hot on the trail of the serial killer who murdered his brother and is now targeting the cast members of the 1980s television series The Happytime Gang. As the killings continue, Jenny (Elizabeth Banks), Phil's former flame, is next on the list. It's up to Phil and Detective Edwards (Melissa McCarthy), his ex-partner, to find the culprit, but as bad blood and old resentments resurface, the clues start pointing to the only viable suspect: Phil himself. Now he's on the run with only his wits and hard-headed determination as he and his partner attempt to solve the Happytime Murders.

The production for The Happytime Murders had a rough start which began back in 2008 when it was announced the film was being developed at The Jim Henson Company. The film was picked up two years later, by Lionsgate, with a targeted January 2011 start date. At the time, Cameron Diaz had been offered a lead role in the film. Later, Diaz dropped out of the film and Katherine Heigl entered into talks to replace her.

In July 2015, it was announced that STX Entertainment had picked up the film rights to The Happytime Murders and put the film in active development with script revisions by Erich and Jon Hoeber. In April 2016, Jamie Foxx entered negotiations to star in the film. However, in May 2017, it was revealed that Melissa McCarthy had signed on to star in the film as well as contribute minor, uncredited rewrites of the film's screenplay. This was followed by Maya Rudolph being added in August and in September, Elizabeth Banks, puppeteer Bill Barretta, and Joel McHale all officially joined the cast. Principal photography on the film finally began in Los Angeles, California on September 11, 2017 almost three years after the idea first originated.

WOW, it is hard to describe what we just saw. Talk about an original film idea. I love Phil and think this character is so amazing. What I am not sure about is Melissa McCarthy in her role. While, I think she is hilarious in most of her films, for some reason she just does not seem to fit.

I love how the studio comes out with the red band version of the trailer right out of the gate. Because I think a PG rated version would lose a lot of people, but this trailer shows what a raunchy ride you get when you see this film.