Joseph Gordon Levitt ‘Fraggle Rock’ Movie Canceled
By George Robbins
For those of you who are Jim Henson fans, then you might be aware that one of the series he created ‘Fraggle Rock’ was supposed to be getting a movie. The development of this movie was something that was being worked on since 2005 and has run into countless problems ever since the inception of the original idea. The original series focused on the adventures of underworld dwelling Fraggles. This interpretation of what life would be like for Muppets but underground is what made Henson’s live-action puppeteering special. The original series ran for a grand total of five seasons and then they had cameos which extended to a large number of different productions.
The Fraggles haven’t seen the spotlight since their appearances in other media, and with the exception of loyal fans, they were forgotten by most. By the year 2005, there was enough interest still in the characters for studios to start looking at making a movie based on the original characters and a new adventure. However, it seems like this plan was really not meant to last since they couldn’t find a screenwriter that they wanted to hire for the film initially before it was handed off. When it was brought to another company 6 years after the initial development was supposed to begin there was hope it would be finished not too long afterward. This was, unfortunately not meant to pass.
The following year, 2012, was when they announced that they found new writers to work on the movie since they could never come up with a script that worked. Two years later, it took Brian Henson saying that the movie was “still in development” to get people to realize the movie was still being made. Within a year of that he mentioned that they were still making a script, but people were enthusiastic about working on it. So with what has been said, and done, by people so far indicates that they had no idea how to make the movie work. That year though, there was hope in the fact that actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt attached himself to the project as a producer and star.
Hope would unfortunately turn to despair because three years after Joseph Gordon-Levitt was attached to the project, there was still no word on whether it was being made. Then there was a statement that he had made about them having a meeting for the film to get it done properly. The ‘Fraggle Rock’ movie would not come to pass as it has now been announced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt himself that the movie is canceled. Instead of there being a movie, they have instead decided to take the Fraggles and put them back on television. The Fraggles will make a return through their new series that will premiere on Apple TV+.