As the son of Jim Henson and the chairman of the Jim Henson Company, Brian Henson has largely carried on his father’s legacy of wholesome entertainment for the entire family. That, very clearly, ends with The Happytime Murders, an intriguing-looking buddy cop comedy due in theaters this summer.

The human stars include Melissa McCarthy, Elizabeth Banks, Maya Rudolph, and Joel McHale as a foul-mouthed FBI agent. But half the cast is comprised of puppets; the film is set in a Who Framed Roger Rabbit-style world where puppets and humans co-exist, and someone is going around murdering the puppets. It’s up to McCarthy’s character and a puppet ex-cop to solve the case.

As the red-band trailer above shows (and folks, it is VERY red-band, viewer discretion is strongly advised), this ain’t no Roger Rabbit, at least from a content perspective. That movie was rated PG; Happytime Murders will at least be rated R. The trailer alone has puppet violence, profanity, drug use and then a sexual act at the end so graphic I cannot even write about it on this website. You just have to watch it for yourself.

Here is the film’s official synopsis:

No Sesame. All Street. THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS is a filthy comedy set in the underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans coexist. Two clashing detectives with a shared secret, one human (Melissa McCarthy) and one puppet, are forced to work together again to solve the brutal murders of the former cast of a beloved classic puppet television show.

The Happytime Murders opens in theaters on August 17. Hopefully by then I’ve shaken that final image out of my mind.

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