JAMIE FOXX is in early talks to star in “Happytime Murders,” STX Entertainment’s dark, R-rated puppet project, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

    Brian Henson is on board to direct what is being billed as an action comedy, which The Jim Henson Co. has been trying to put together since 2008. STX picked up the project in the summer of 2015, intrigued by the concept.

    “Happytime” takes place in a world where humans and puppets coexist, with the puppets viewed as second-class citizens. When the puppet castmembers of 1980s children’s TV show “The Happytime Gang” begin turning up dead, an alcoholic, disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet takes the case with his former human partner. Think “Avenue Q” meets “L.A. Confidential.”

    Todd Berger and Dee Robertson wrote the initial drafts, with the latest script by Erich and Jon Hoeber, the brothers who wrote “Red” and “Red 2.”(SD-Agencies)