With Jason Segel’s new Muppet movie currently in development over at Disney this year, and the 30th Anniversary of the original The Muppet Movie taking place last year, it seems like a perfect time for someone to put together a biopic about the legendary creator of The Muppets, Mr. Jim Henson. Of course, such an idea would probably not have crossed the minds of the folks at Disney if not for a relatively unknown screenwriter named Christopher Weekes, who decided to step up to the plate and take a crack at writing one himself. His spec script The Muppet Man ended up topping the 2009 Black List for hottest unproduced screenplays in Hollywood, at which point it managed to catch the attention of the people who actually own the rights to make it a reality.

According to Vulture, both Disney (owner of The Muppets) and The Henson Company (owner of the rights to Jim Henson’s life story) are currently in talks with director Michael Gracey to helm the film. Gracey is a visual effects guy with a background in music videos and commercials who was actually attached to direct The Dark Crystal sequel after Genndy Tartakovsky left. The Muppet Man script is reportedly quite unique in that it has darker scenes with The Muppets themselves acting out parts of Henson’s personal life. It’s unclear if these elements will remain once Disney is done with the project, but at the very least it seems like the movie now has a genuine shot at getting made, which is pretty awesome. Either way we’ll have more on this project as it develops.