# Eddie Murphy to lead reboot of “Pink Panther” **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 30, 2025, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527 "2025-07-30T20:38:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/21 "2025-07-31T18:58:12Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Or … You completely reimagine Clouseau as somebody not bumbling and clumsy You probably want to cut the kinda racist French caricature while you’re at it. Just cast someone like Liam Niesson and give him an American accent and a name like, oh, Frank Drebben. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/22 "2025-07-31T19:06:29Z")
Frank _Drebin_, but other than that quibble I agree completely. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/23 "2025-07-31T19:27:16Z")
That’s not my dog. I agree they would have to change the set up, as Eddie is not a good ‘bumbler’. But that was the crux of the movies. If you leave that out, why not just invent a new character? Where did the name Pink Panther come from anyway? > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Peter Sellers, who was an absolute genius in other films I’ve liked. The Party springs to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/24 "2025-07-31T19:29:41Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > > > Peter Sellers, who was an absolute genius in other films I’ve liked. > > The Party springs to mind. IMHO, he did some of his best work on radio (as a member of The Goons). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/25 "2025-07-31T19:29:58Z")
I’ll happily be wrong, but man….this movie could be the headline of a newspaper about movies I don’t care about at all. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/26 "2025-07-31T20:09:30Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Where did the name Pink Panther come from anyway? It was the name of the diamond that was stolen in the first film. The name carries on though it has no connection to any of the other films. Not unlike “The Thin Man” who was not Nick Charles, but the missing scientist in the first Thin Man film. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/27 "2025-07-31T20:18:18Z")
What did the Pink Panther say when he stepped on an ant? 🎶 Dead ant, dead ant, dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant dead aaaaaaaant…🎶 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/28 "2025-07-31T20:36:28Z")
Was there a blue aardvark nearby? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/29 "2025-07-31T20:48:15Z")
Loooved that show. Didn’t he do a Dean Martin-esq voice? “Hey, yant” > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > It was the name of the diamond that was stolen in the first film. Gotcha, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/30 "2025-07-31T21:00:22Z")
The ant talked like Dean-o (IIRC). The best part about the PP movies was they spawned the Pink Panther cartoons. And the Pink Panther Show get up get out get ready to shout cuz everyone should know that in this world that’s why it’s with panther-ly pride we bring to you the panther show ~~ P-I-N-K P-A-N-T-H-E-R (and the aardvark too!) One fall Saturday morning my mom and dad and I were picking corn. At 9:30 I “made” my mom let me go back to watch the Panther. I was spoiled. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/31 "2025-07-31T21:16:24Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I’d love to see an updated Pink Panther and Inspector Clouseau movie. Me too - and the delightful theme tune: [The Pink Panther Theme Music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp6z3s1Gig0&list=RDlp6z3s1Gig0&start_radio=1) Plus some of the funniest dialoge ever e.g. Does your dog bite? [Does your dog bite? / Do you have a ‘reum’?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnXtuktNdlM) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/32 "2025-07-31T21:18:42Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Didn’t Steve Martin also pick the bones of this? I mean pay homage. Steve Martin? Hell, Alan Arkin played Clouseau in one film and the best review he could get was something like, “you might not think this was quite as bad if you had never seen Peter Sellers.” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/33 "2025-07-31T21:22:06Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Do you have a ‘reum’? A zimmer? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/34 "2025-07-31T21:22:32Z")
Maybe we’ll get lucky. It will be animated, and Murphy will be the voice of the Pink Panther. > **Summary** > > Who was completely silent in 99.99% of the cartoons. And all of the good ones. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/35 "2025-07-31T21:31:27Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > > [@madmonk28](#): > > > > Didn’t Steve Martin also pick the bones of this? I mean pay homage. > > Steve Martin? Hell, Alan Arkin played Clouseau in one film and the best review he could get was something like, “you might not think this was quite as bad if you had never seen Peter Sellers.” Ted Wass also got a crack at it, from Blake Edwards himself who was hoping to revitalize his franchise. (It was 1983 and Sellers had died three years before.) Wass got the “clumsy” part down but his role wasn’t written to showcase what made Sellers’ Clouseau so vivid: his ridiculous self-importance. Steve Martin made a stab at that but I don’t think he quite made it. (I haven’t seen the Arkin version). I have my doubts about Eddie Murphy being up to it. But if they start re-casting Clouseau at the same rate that Batman and Superman get recast—an accelerating pace that implies we’ll be seeing new ones each month, soon—then Murphy’s reputational damage will be short-lived. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085384/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085384/) ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/36 "2025-07-31T21:56:24Z")
I’m sure he had the talent 30 years ago but I don’t recall seeing Eddie Murphy in anything this century that I enjoyed. Besides Shrek that is. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/37 "2025-07-31T22:20:23Z")
Is the Pink Panther franchise just another Star Wars? One or two good movies and a ton of crap? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/38 "2025-07-31T22:24:12Z")
_The Pink Panther, A Shot in the Dark, Return of the Pink Panther,_ and _The Pink Panther Strikes Again_ are all solid comedies. All Peter Sellers and Blake Edwards. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/39 "2025-07-31T22:32:42Z")
… out of 11 films. Maybe they should reboot the cartoon instead, in a “3d” solid model cgi style. Or LEGO. Or make a live action version. Tom Hiddleston as the panther. And have the animated Inspector in the credits. Don’t say sí, say oui. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527/40 "2025-07-31T22:43:14Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > and the best review he could get was something like, “you might not think this was quite as bad if you had never seen Peter Sellers.” Wicked burn, man! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eddie-murphy-to-lead-reboot-of-pink-panther/1021527.md?page=3)