Trailer Wednesday: Muppets and Moneyball

The Muppets

If you saw “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” then star Jason Segel’s love of puppets should have been apparent to you. In collaboration with that film’s director, Nicholas Stoller, Segel pitched a new Muppet film and got his dream to come true. The gang is getting back together again with a childish heart clearly a modern sensibility that could very well restore pride to Jim Henson’s beloved creations.

After a couple parody teaser trailers, the most recent tying Kermit to “Green Lantern,” an official trailer has been released. Segel will co-star with Amy Adams (perfect for a Muppet film) and all the old Muppets under Disney’s banner. The trailer seems genuinely funny and nostalgic, which could make for a Thanksgiving weekend success.

The Muppets Trailer

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Moneyball

There was a time when Steven Soderbergh and Brad Pitt were going to make this movie and it looked like it wouldn’t happen. Filming was supposed to begin exactly two years ago (literally, June 22) but there were issues with Soderbergh’s script changes and eventually he left the film. His departure seemed certain to result in Brad Pitt following suit, but “Capote” director Bennet Miller stepped in and the film moved forward with Jonah Hill co-starring.

“Moneyball” tells the story of the Oakland Atheltics general manager Billy Beane, who in 2002 turned to sabermetrics in order to make a low payroll team compete with the big payroll teams such as the New York Yankees. His success was basically spitting on the long-standing traditions of baseball management.

If you’re thinking this is an ordinary sports movie, try this on: the book “Moneyball” is based on comes from writer Michael Lewis, who wrote the book that became “The Blind Side.” The script comes from Steve Zaillan (“American Gangster”) and Aaron Sorkin (“The Social Network”) with producer Scott Rudin and the rest of the Sony team behind “Social Network.”

“Moneyball” arrives on Sept. 23.

Moneyball Trailer