Jason Segel Won't Star In 'The Muppets' Sequel

Jason Segel needs to take a break from the Muppets. Last week we heard that James Bobin and Nicholas Stoller, the director and co-writer of The Muppets, respectively, are working on a script for a sequel to the 2011 movie that brought Kermit the Frog back to the big screen along with all of his friends.

Jason Segel provided the prime momentum behind getting that movie made. He drove the development of the story and co-wrote the script in addition to starring in the movie. But the years of work required to make the film a reality have evidently filled his personal quota for working with felt co-stars, at least for the time being. The actor said this weekend that in addition to leaving the sequel writing duties to others, he won't star in the sequel.

Segel told Collider,

It's true [that I'm not involved writing the sequel] but it's totally amicable. My goal was to bring The Muppets back and I did that, leaving them in very good hands, my writing partner and James Bobin the director. I did what I set out to do, and now I wanna pursue more human-related projects (laughs)... All I wanted to do was to set the stage for them to do whatever they wanted. I'm sure I'll return in some capacity here and there, but that was half a decade of my life. Five years of hard work. I'm ready for a little puppet break.

His comments leave room for some sort of cameo or other small appearance in whatever the Muppets sequel ends up being, but it looks like we'll see a lot more of Walter, the new Muppet Segel created as his co-star for last year's movie, than we will of Segel himself.