Although a Fraggle Rock film has been in the planning stages for some time, it looks like the big screen adaptation of the Jim Henson series is finally moving forward with Variety reporting that the project has found a headliner in none other than Joseph Gordon-Levitt! Gordon-Levitt will produce and star for New Regency, The Henson Co. and Lisa Henson.
“The first screen personas I ever loved were Henson creations,” says the star, whose specific role in the film currently remains a mystery, “first on ‘Sesame Street,’ and then on ‘Fraggle Rock’. They’re also layered, surprising, and wise. From Oscar the Grouch, to Yoda, to the Fraggles. I’ve never stopped loving his work, even as a young frisky man, and on into adulthood. Collaborating with Lisa Henson makes me confident we can do something that Jim would have loved. I’m grateful and excited to be working with New Regency on this project.”
The original series, which premiered on HBO in 1983, featured a world populated by a mix of human characters and Fraggle Rock puppets. Initial plans for the movie had the core characters Gogo, Wembley, Mokey, Boober and Red leaving their home in Fraggle Rock and interacting with humans.
Gordon-Levitt can next be seen in several upcoming projects later this year, including Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk, Oliver Stone’s Snowden and the still-untitled Christmas comedy from director Jonathan Levine that will also star Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie and Lizzy Caplan.
