The storied history of Jim Henson Studios in Hollywood, which once upon a time was where silent film legend Charlie Chaplin crafted his famous works, is reaching its next chapter with two unlikely characters, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Singer-songwriter John Mayer and film director McG have reportedly shelled out $60 million for the property, which has been held by the Jim Henson Company since 1999.
That was some seven years after the Muppet creator’s death, but the company has been “the owner and major presence on the lot” for the last 25 years. The sale comes after reports that the Church of Scientology was eyeing the property for itself, but actually, it wasn’t the Church of Scientology itself that was interested but instead Fab Factory Studios, the music company owned by major Scientology supporters Steven and Shaun Fabos. According to the story, the father-and-son Fabos team had some manner of hold on the property but let the time limit for it lapse, at which point Mayer (who is said to already have office space in the building) and McG pulled the trigger.
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The property was Chaplin’s home base between 1917 and 1953, going on to be used to film various TV productions of the day before it was taken over by A&M Records in 1966. They sold it to The Jim Henson Company for $12.5 million in 1999, and now it is set to pass into the hands of Mayer and McG.
As to what this motley pair may be planning to do with the property, that doesn’t seem to be public knowledge, and neither Mayer nor McG has commented on the sale publicly (except to confirm it in a short press statement) as of this writing. But with filmmaker McG involved it’s possible it will return to being used as a film and television studio as opposed to the music recording facilities that are there now.