Jason Segel will play the human lead in the upcoming Muppets film titled The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made. Segel, who was already attached to the project as co-writer, will play a character who goes on a quest to re-unite said Muppets.

James Bobin is set to direct. You probably don’t recognise his name as this will be his debut, however he has good experience in TV; he co-created the HBO series The Flight of the Conchords and worked as writer and director on the innovative British TV comedies Da Ali G Show and The 11 O’clock Show.

The Muppets made their last big screen outing all the way back in 1999 with The Muppets in Space which was a decent addition to the Muppets canon. Since then they have been in a couple of TV movies including The Muppets Wizard of Oz, which saw R&B singer Ashanti attempting to fill Judy Garland’s ruby slippers. It was critically panned and questions were raised about their future in film; had The Muppets outlived their welcome? Could they survive in the 21st century or would they struggle to compete for the affection of children against the powerhouse of Pixar, the High School Musical franchise and whatever else these crazy kids like these days!?!

It’s good that they will be returning to the big screen after all but to be honest they probably need to make sure it is a hit or else there could come a time when Kermit and co are as extinct as the dodo and not even as funny.