Disney Moves Up Muppets Movie for Thanksgiving Release

Disney on Wednesday moved next year’s scheduled theatrical release of The Muppets Movie from Christmas to Thanksgiving.

Now set for Wednesday, Nov. 23 instead of a previous Sunday, Dec. 25 slot, Muppets will be Disney’s latest candidate to dominate the prime Turkey Day play period. The Burbank studio has done that will regular consistency, most recently with Nov. 22 opener Tangled, a $69 million grosser through the five-day Thanksgiving period.

“Disney has had incredible success opening films over the Thanksgiving weekend, and thanks to Tangled, we have the top three Thanksgiving openers of all time,” distribution topper Chuck Viane said.

Starring in the film along with the usual Muppets cast will be Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper and Rashida Jones. The movie also will feature cameos by Alan Arkin, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Billy Crystal and Wanda Sykes.

Now shooting in Los Angeles, Muppets was written by Segel and Nicholas Stoller and is directed by James Bobin.