The Pink Panther (2006 film)

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  1. The Pink Panther
    File:Pinkposterbig.jpg
    Directed byShawn Levy
    Written byLen Blum
    Steve Martin
    Michael Saltzman
    Rawson Marshall Thurber (uncredited)
    Produced byIra Shuman
    Robert Simonds
    Tracey Trench
    StarringSteve Martin
    Kevin Kline
    Beyoncé Knowles
    Jean Reno
    Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
    through:
    USA Theatrical and Worldwide DVD/Video
    Sony Pictures Entertainment
    Non-USA Theatrical
    20th Century Fox (UK, Italy, Germany, Argentina, Singapore, Japan, and various affiliates and joint-ventures worldwide)
    Release dates
    		February 10, 2006
    Running time
    		93 minutes
    CountryUSA
    LanguageEnglish
    Budget$80 million

The Pink Panther is a 2006 comedy film. It is a reboot of the Pink Panther series. In this film, Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin) is assigned to solve the murder of a famous football coach and the theft of the famous Pink Panther diamond.

This film also stars Kevin Kline, Beyoncé Knowles, and Jean Reno.

Taglines

  • Get A Clue!
  • He wasn't born to greatness, but he just might stumble across it.

Plot synopsis

File:Pink Panther 2006 01.jpg
Clouseau (Steve Martin) and Dreyfus (Kevin Kline)

The film opens with the French national soccer team’s victory over the Chinese national soccer team, the murder of French coach Yves Gluant (Jason Statham), and the disappearance of his Pink Panther diamond ring. Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Kevin Kline), eager to win the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour), appoints the "most incompetent policeman" in France, Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin), to the case as a diversion. Dreyfus has assembled a team of investigators to tackle the mystery in secret, planning to take over the case and win the Légion d'honneur. Dreyfus appoints Gendarme Gilbert Ponton (Jean Reno) to report on Clouseau's whereabouts at all times.

Clouseau makes only a little progress at first, bungling one situation after another. Bizu, a star player who hated Gluant and was the prime suspect, gets shot in the head. A witness hears him say "Oh, it's you", so Clouseau tells Ponton to gather all the people in Paris with the name "You". He interviews an old Cantonese woman and appears not to understand her (it is revealed later that he understood every word). While at a casino, with the intent of asking some questions of owner Raymond Larocque (Gluant's business partner), he encounters British Agent 006 Nigel Boswell (Clive Owen parodying James Bond). Boswell poses as Clouseau in order to conceal his identity and stop a robbery by the notorious Gas Masked Bandits. Thus, Clouseau gets credit for the deed, much to Dreyfus's annoyance.

Believing that Gluant's girlfriend Xania (Beyoncé Knowles) knows more than she has revealed, Clouseau follows her to New York City. He tries to perfect a flawless American accent but has no success (despite hiring the best dialect coach in the world). Before he can return to France, his bag is switched by a French agent working for Dreyfus while he waits in line at airport security. The new bag, which contains several weapons (including a flail, a pocket knife, a grenade, and a revolver), sets off the metal detector; after he refuses to empty his pockets, which contain hamburgers, he is arrested. Clouseau initially tries to tell the airport staff about the hamburgers, but no one understands his ridiculous accent. Upon Clouseau's return to France, Dreyfus insults him and strips him of his inspector rank, preparing to win the case. Based on his evidence -- that the poison that killed Gluant was derived from Chinese herbs -- Dreyfus deduces that the killer is a Chinese envoy named Dr. Pang, whom he plans on arresting at the upcoming Presidential Ball. Dreyfus orders the event planners to remove Clouseau's name from the guest list.

Having returned home, Clouseau finds a photo of his arrest on the Internet. He sees something significant in the photo, and immediately makes his way to the Élysée Palace with Ponton, where they sneak into Presidential Ball. They are able to prevent the murder of Xania by pursuing and capturing the real killer, who turns out to be Yuri, an ex-Soviet soldier who was the French soccer team's trainer. Clouseau reveals that the Cantonese woman "reminded" Clouseau that all soccer trainers must be skilled in Chinese medicine; furthermore, Bizu was shot in the occipital lobe of the brain, a location that would be known to Yuri from his training in the Russian military. Xania is revealed to have the Pink Panther diamond, sewn into the lining of her purse. Gluant gave it to her as an engagement ring just before his death, and she is therefore entitled to it under French law. Clouseau declares that it was the photo of his arrest that revealed everything to him. When he enlarged it he saw the ring in the monitor of the airport's x-ray scanner. Dreyfus makes a clumsy attempt to take credit, saying his arrest of the Chinese envoy was a ploy to draw out the real killer. For his success, Clouseau wins the Medal of Honor.

Box office performance

In these countries, the film debuted at #1:

Performance in other countries:

As of March 12 2007, the film grossed a total of $82,226,474 in the United States Box Office and $158,851,357 worldwide.

Since the film did better at the box office than expected, a sequel is in the planning stages.

Cast

File:Panther1.jpeg
Xania, as portrayed by Beyoncé Knowles.

Previous Treatments

During filming, Sony Pictures Entertainment purchased MGM. This acquisition led to a $5 million re-shooting and re-editing process in order to garner a PG rating, therefore appealing to a family-friendly audience rather than the original, more mature target audience. A novelization published in July 2005 was based on the final version of the script prior to the extensive re-shoot. Some of these deleted scenes are available for viewing on the DVD edition of the film, such as the alternate airplane sequence. Not including those scenes, the differences between the version in the novel and the final film are as follows:

  • In general, there is more profanity and sexuality in the earlier version.
  • In the final film, Clouseau's antics as a village gendarme are revealed in an explanation from Dreyfus, accented with flashbacks of several short, unique incidents. Originally, there was to be a single separate scene showing a typical case of Clouseau's, involving the robbery of a hot dog cart.
  • Several press conference scenes are much longer in the pre-edit version. In addition, there are several scenes featuring Dreyfus speaking to his deputy chief Renard, dispensing his thoughts as the case develops.
  • The scene involving Nicole taking Clouseau's measurements also included additional lines of mildly risque dialogue while trying to find his waist measurement.
  • During the scene where Clouseau first interogates Xania, she mentions giving Gluant "the greatest gift... my virginity." At the end of the scene, as Clouseau and Ponton are leaving, Clouseau asks Xania if she would someday "lose her virginity to me too," to which she slyly responds "Maybe."
  • Before Clouseau meets Agent 006, he plays a game of roulette and is flabbergasted upon losing.
  • The scene where Clouseau places a leaky pen in Dreyfus' breast pocket is a running gag in the earlier draft.
  • The already suggestive scene in Xania's hotel room is even more racy in the earlier version. Also, upon losing the Viagra pill down the drain, Clouseau sneaks out of the hotel and into the city, in the hopes that he can refill his prescription. Before doing so, he deposits his "Flaming Mojito" in a potted plant in the lobby. Clouseau visits two pharmacies, both of which are closed. Using Agent 006's glass-cutting device (seen earlier in the Gas Mask Bandits scene), he breaks into the second pharmacy and gets the medication himself. Just before the romance begins, the mojito sets the lobby ablaze. Everyone is evacuated to the streets, including practically-naked Xania and Clouseau.
  • The Medal of Honor ceremony is seen in the earlier version. A humiliated Dreyfus is forced to present the award to Clouseau and Ponton, complete with the customary hug and kiss. Following the ceremony, the police receive word that the Gas Mask Bandits from earlier in the film have escaped, and Clouseau and Ponton jump on the case. In the chaos, Dreyfus in knocked off a bridge into the Seine, causing Clouseau to sigh and deliver the ironic film-closing line, "A great detective, the chief inspector... but clumsy."

Trivia

  • At the beginning of the movie, Yves Gluant, played by Jason Statham, is the owner of the Pink Panther diamond. The movie Snatch ends with Statham's character, Turkish, becoming the owner of the similarly large and much sought after diamond in that film.
  • Steve Martin had such respect for Peter Sellers that when he was asked to take over the role of Clouseau, he put off the decision to accept it until after he had already worked out the character's accent and run several ideas for scenes past director Shawn Levy.
  • This film's release was originally planned for August 12 2005, but the date was changed to February 10 2006, mainly because of the extensive reshoots taking place, and the fact that distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was being bought out by Sony.[citation needed]
  • The red and white microcar that Clouseau and Ponton use in many scenes is a Smart Fortwo.
  • In the film a black Spyker car is featured as a background vehicle.
  • The acrobatic soccer goal that ends the sudden death was not just a lucky stunt. According to the DVD commentary by the director, over one hundred players were auditioned, but none could kick the ball while doing a back flip. Finally, someone suggested trying other athletes, and a martial artist from the UK was chosen. The crew tossed the ball to him many times, until he hit it just right. At one point David Beckham was considered for the role - uncredited - of that soccer player.
  • The film had a lengthy development phase stretching back to October 1997 when Ivan Reitman was slated to produce and direct a script by Michael Saltzman. The original plotline was set in the Paris fashion industry. Other potential directors were Frank Oz, Mike Nichols, and Steve Oedekerk. Len Blum succeeded Saltzman as screenwriter. Rawson Marshall Thurber contributed to the reshoots. First choices for Clouseau were Jim Carrey or Robin Williams. Kevin Kline (the final choice for Dreyfus), Rowan Atkinson, Martin Lawrence, Kevin Spacey (who was busy starring as Lex Luthor in Superman Returns), Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, and Chris Tucker were all considered before Steve Martin came aboard with producer Robert Simonds and director Shawn Levy. Herbert Lom had been intended to reprise his role as Dreyfus while Reitman was in charge. Jackie Chan had been approached to play Cato and Howard Stern was suggested for Professor Balls before the studio decided to drop both characters prior to Martin, Simonds, and Levy coming aboard, although Balls is mentioned in the novelization.
  • The name of footballer Bizu is a play on legendary French footballer Zinedine Zidane's nickname, Zizou.

See also

External links

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