Eddie Murphy is reportedly in talks to star in a remake of the classic comedy The Pink Panther. Starring the legendary Peter Sellers as bumbling Inspector Clouseau, 1963’s The Pink Panther was a smash hit heist comedy that spawned a long-running Sellers-led series, culminating with 1983’s Curse of the Pink Panther. Following Sellers’ death, the Pink Panther franchise made a return in 1993 with Son of the Pink Panther, starring Roberto Benigni as Clouseau’s progeny. A proper reboot was later attempted with 2006’s Shawn Levy-directed The Pink Panther, starring Steve Martin, who reprised the role of Clouseau in 2009’s The Pink Panther 2.
Now over a decade after Martin’s second and apparently final outing in the Pink Panther series, MGM is developing a new reboot, with Shrek star Murphy reportedly in talks to play Clouseau (via THR). Sonic the Hedgehog’s Jeff Fowler was previously reported to be directing, from a script by Chris Bremner (Bad Boys for Life). Unlike prior Pink Panther entries, the new movie will incorporate the animated Pink Panther character, who debuted in the original films’ title sequences before enjoying his own life as a cartoon character, in a hybrid film. The story sees the animated Pink Panther being broken out of prison to do a heist in the real world.
Eddie Murphy Has A Mixed Record With Remakes
A superstar thanks to his 1980s run as an SNL cast member, movie actor and stand-up comic, Murphy in the 1990s settled in as a reliable comedic actor in a variety of generally more family-friendly roles. In 1996, the star scored one of his biggest hits playing a multitude of characters in a remake of the 1963 Jerry Lewis vehicle The Nutty Professor. Murphy went the remake route again in 1998 with Dr. Dolittle, and though the film was a box office success with $294 million grossed, it did not go over well with critics and currently scores just 52% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Both The Nutty Professor and Dr. Dolittle did well enough to score sequels, which Murphy dutifully delivered, but in 2002 he stepped outside those established franchises for a new remake project in I Spy. An update of the classic Bill Cosby/Robert Culp TV series, I Spy teamed Murphy with Owen Wilson, and was largely rejected by audiences, grossing just $60 million on a budget of $70 million.
In the years since I Spy flopped, Murphy has cashed in with a run as Donkey in the Shrek films, while sprinkling in the occasional edgier comedy like Tower Heist and Dolemite is My Name. Currently, Murphy’s fans anticipate his return as Axel Foley in the long-awaited Beverly Hills Cop 4. It will be interesting to see what Murphy does with Clouseau in a new version of The Pink Panther, but his talent for playing multiple characters seems to fit well with the role of a detective who may don various wacky disguises during the course of the film.
Source: THR
