Bobin
The next Muppet movie will sing with "Flight of the Conchords" co-creator James Bobin at the helm.
Bobin chose the pic over "Bridesmaids," a Judd Apatow-produced comedy in development at Universal.
Disney has long been looking to get another installment of the Muppet franchise on the bigscreen and sparked to a script by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller; Mandeville's David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman will produce.
Plot is being kept under wraps.
"Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" helmers Phil Lord and Chris Miller had also been considered to direct.
Property is expected to be one of the first to get the greenlight under Rich Ross and production prexy Sean Bailey. The Muppets brand fits in well with the studio's mandate to produce more Disney-branded fare that can be exploited across various company divisions.
Contact Marc Graser at
marc.graser@variety.com