With Sonic the Hedgehog having made a positive dent in the box office in early 2020 and Tom and Jerry heading back to the big screen it was only a matter of time before this next character made a comeback.
Deadline is reporting that MGM is now in active development on a new live-action/VFX hybrid featuring the classic cartoon character Pink Panther. Not only that but the studio has also drafted in Sonic director Jeff Fowler to helm the project.
Chris Bremner is set to write MGM’s modern reimagining, with Lawrence Mirisch, Julie Andrews Edwards of Geoffrey Productions, Rideback’s Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich producing. Walter Mirisch and Rideback’s Ryan Halprin will executive produce.
“Popular the world over, the legacy of the iconic Pink Panther has endured for more than 50 years and continues to be discovered by new generations,” said Michael De Luca, MGM Film Group chairman, and Pamela Abdy, MGM Film Group president. “We are so happy to come together with Jeff, Chris, Larry, Julie, Dan, Jonathan, Walter and Ryan to bring one of MGM’s most well-loved franchise back to the big screen and in a way audience have never seen before.”
According to Deadline, The Pink Panther is MGM’s longest and most successful comedy franchise, created by writer-director Blake Edwards, Julie Andrews Edwards’ late husband, in partnership with producer Walter Mirisch.
In 1964, The Mirisch Company produced Blake Edwards’ The Pink Panther starring Peter Sellers as a bumbling French detective, and Edwards wrote and directed eight titles in the series. That film also introduced the world to Henry Mancini’s memorable Pink Panther theme, which was nominated for an Academy Award. That same year the first theatrical cartoon was produced, based on the character in the film’s main title sequence.
The cartoons were made by De Patie-Freleng Enterprises. The Pink Phink won the Oscar for the Best Animated Short in 1964, and the Pink Panther was shown on movie screens until the 1970s. The Pink Panther Show started its television run in 1969 and ran through 1994. Pink Panther cartoons are still shown on TV around the world.
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