Modern Family Star Ty Burrell Replaces Christoph Waltz In THE MUPPETS Sequel

One of the stars of ABC's Modern Family, Ty Burrell will join the human cast for sequel to 2011s The Muppets to replace Django Unchained‘s Christoph Waltz, who was circling the Disney project earlier this fall. The Austrian actor's schedule prevented the studio from making a deal and forced him to drop out of the running. Burrell will now take over the role of an Interpol agent in the Europe-set follow-up. Waltz will be reportedly heading off to work on Mike Newell‘s Reykjavik. James Bobin, who directed the 2011 Muppets film, is returning to helm the still-untitled sequel and co-wrote the screenplay with returning writer Nicholas Stoller. However, The Muppets 2 will not star Jason Segel, who co-wrote and starred in the 2011 movie. Stoller told ComingSoon in a recent interview:

We kind of felt like we completed Gary's story in the first one, and he's mostly interested in writing stuff for him to be in, which makes sense, right? He didn't want to go on and write the next one. I was like, ‘Do you care if I do it with James?' He's like, ‘Of course not.'

On the other side, fans can expect to see Kermit and Miss Piggy, and even Walter, but plot details are under wraps. A Russian femme fatale has yet to be cast and another male lead role ‘whose intentions are always in question.' Production is set to begin early next year in London for a December 20th, 2013 release. Burrell, who was most recently seen in Butter and Goats is currently shooting The Skeleton Twins and will be providing a voice-over talent to DreamWorks Animation's Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Source: THR