It's looking like Eddie Murphy is going to be your new Inspector Jacques Clouseau in a new Pink Panther reboot at MGM, according to Deadline.
It's great to see Eddie Murphy mounting a comeback in the modern era. Murphy's impact on pop culture in the 80s and 90s was so undeniable that he helped establish an archetype in cinema. Although Richard Pryor's variant of the slick-talking, street-smart, Black protagonist already existed, Murphy helped elevate the trope to untold heights. Subsequently, actors like Chris Tucker, Will Smith, and Chris Rock were able to gain a foothold in a film industry that had only recently begun to experiment with representation.
Murphy's career hit something of a skid in the late 2000s, where the actor's name became synonymous with boilerplate comedies that typically performed poorly on opening weekend. However, with his turn as Rudy Ray Moore in Netflix's Dolemite is My Name, Murphy has since restored his public image. And now it seems as if he's going to keep the momentum going, as the comedy legend is rumored to be eyeing the role of Inspector Jacques Clouseau in a Pink Panther reboot.
Emmy and Golden Globe winner Eddie Murphy is circling a new Pink Panther movie in early development at the Amazon-owned MGM, multiple sources have confirmed to Deadline.
An iconic comedy-mystery franchise created for MGM by Blake Edwards, chronicling the investigations of the inept Inspector Jacques Clouseau, Pink Panther has thus far comprised 11 films, along with numerous series and specials.
Jeff Fowler (Sonic the Hedgehog) will direct the new film from a screenplay by Chris Bremner. Dan Lin, Julie Andrews, Larry Mirisch and Jonathan Eirich are aboard as producers. Murphy is expected to take on the role of Clouseau, which was originated in the '60s by three-time Academy Award nominee Peter Sellers and later inhabited by Emmy winner Steve Martin starting in the early 2000s. One source close to Murphy described the project as a natural fit for the actor, who has long admired the comedic performances of Sellers.
