The Pink Panther 2

Last updated
The Pink Panther 2
Pink Panther 2poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Harald Zwart
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Scott Neustadter
  • Michael H. Weber
Based on The Pink Panther
by Blake Edwards
Maurice Richlin
Produced by Robert Simonds
Starring
Cinematography Denis Crossan
Edited by Julia Wong
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing [1]
Release dates
  • January 24, 2009 (2009-01-24)(Alpe d'Huez)
  • February 6, 2009 (2009-02-06)(United States)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$70 million [2]
Box office$76 million [2]

The Pink Panther 2 is a 2009 American comedy-mystery film directed by Harald Zwart. [3] It is the eleventh installment in The Pink Panther film series and the sequel to the 2006 film The Pink Panther , a reboot of the popular comedy series. [4] The film was released on February 6, 2009 in North America. [5] In the film, Inspector Clouseau must team up with detectives from other countries to rout a daring burglar, The Tornado, who has returned after a decade's inactivity.

Contents

Steve Martin, who reprised the role of Clouseau, originated by Peter Sellers, polished the original script written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber in November 2006. [4] MGM, partnering with Columbia Pictures on the sequel, hired the team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel to perform a further rewrite in January 2007. [6] Principal photography began in Paris on August 20, 2007, then moved to Boston several weeks later, where filming ended on November 2, 2007.

John Cleese replaces Kevin Kline as Chief Inspector Dreyfus with Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer reprising their roles as Clouseau's partner Ponton and Clouseau's girlfriend Nicole. Beyoncé did not return for the sequel. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan appears as a corrupt criminologist Sonia Solandres. Andy García, Yuki Matsuzaki and Alfred Molina round out the cast as Italian businessman Vincenzo Brancaleone, Japanese technology expert Kenji Mazuto and British Detective Chief Inspector Randall Pepperidge, respectively. It was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on June 23, 2009.

Plot

When master thief "The Tornado" steals artifacts from around the world, the French government assembles a "Dream Team" of investigators to solve the case. Meanwhile, Inspector Clouseau is reassigned from his task as a parking officer by Chief Inspector Dreyfus to join the detectives in Japan, where The Tornado's latest heist occurred. After Clouseau crosses the "borders" of France at an airport gate, news breaks that the Pink Panther diamond has been stolen. Clouseau meets the rest of the Dream Team: Detective Chief Inspector Randall Pepperidge from Great Britain; Vincenzo Brancaleoni, a businessman from Italy; Kenji Mazuto, a technology expert from Japan; and Sonia Solandres, a criminologist from India.

The team then goes to Rome to investigate a black market fence, Alonso Avellaneda. Assuming Avellaneda is The Tornado, the Dream Team questions him while Clouseau snoops around. Avellaneda lacks a characteristic bullet wound The Tornado received years ago, so the detectives leave. Later, he meets with the real Tornado. That night, Clouseau and his partner Ponton spy on Avellaneda at a restaurant using an audio bug. The mission is compromised when they find Vincenzo and Nicole, Clouseau's girlfriend, having dinner there. Banned from the restaurant for burning it down months earlier, Clouseau disguises himself as a dancer and switches the bug to Nicole's table, burning down the restaurant again in the process. Meanwhile, The Tornado steals the Pope's ring, souring public opinion against the Dream Team. When Clouseau's incompetence aggravates the situation, he is voted off the team. Clouseau is later called to an office and finds that The Tornado has killed himself, leaving a note claiming he destroyed the Pink Panther – considering it so beautiful that he could not allow anyone else to own it – and left the other treasures to be recovered. Examining a key found in the Pope's Chambers, the Dream Team match the dead man's DNA with the one recovered from when The Tornado was shot and believe they have solved the case. However, Clouseau remains unconvinced.

A celebration is thrown in the Dream Team's honor, although Clouseau is uninvited. While wandering near the party, Clouseau sees the license plate of Sonia's car and calls Ponton. Clouseau then tells Dreyfus that Sonia is the real thief, but is ignored. Dreyfus tells Clouseau's theory to the group, who jokingly work out a plausible explanation: as The Tornado's ex-lover, she would have in-depth knowledge of his methods, and could have drawn attention to the thefts of the other artifacts, leaving her free to sell the diamond. Nicole, realizing Clouseau could be correct, asks Sonia to empty her purse. After initially trying to leave, Sonia pulls out a gun, threatening to shoot Nicole, before shooting Clouseau. However, the bullet ricochets off his Légion d'honneur medal. A chase ensues, with the Dream Team suffering due to various accidents caused by Clouseau's clumsiness. Finally cornered, Sonia threatens to destroy the diamond and, goaded by Clouseau, she does. Before she can escape, however, Sonia is knocked out by Ponton and arrested. Clouseau reveals that Sonia destroyed a fake gem, as Clouseau kept the real diamond in his possession to protect it. The Pink Panther at the museum was swapped with a replica he was given before leaving France. Furthermore, The Tornado, an expert on gems, would have recognized the fake diamond, allowing Clouseau to deduce that his suicide note was forged. The Tornado was actually murdered. Clouseau had given a ticket to Sonia's car one day before the diamond was stolen – contradicting her alibi of being delayed to the original crime scene by her flight. This confirmed to him that Sonia was the culprit and that she used the Dream Team, and (implicitly) Clouseau's mishaps, as a strategic cover.

Later, Clouseau marries Nicole in a ceremony officiated by Dreyfus and attended by the Dream Team, ending in chaos when Dreyfus accidentally destroys a security camera with a champagne cork, summoning the Black Berets. In the ensuing confusion, Clouseau and Nicole leave for their honeymoon, as the animated Pink Panther invites himself to the chaos.

Cast

Production

The film was shot in Paris, France, and Boston, Bedford, Chelsea, Westwood, and Winchester, Massachusetts and Trenton, New Jersey [7] from August 20 to November 2, 2007. Much like previous installments, this film also featured an animated opening title sequence animated by Imaginary Forces.

Release

The Pink Panther 2 was theatrically released on February 6, 2009 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 23, 2009 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and MGM Home Entertainment.

Soundtrack

Composer Christophe Beck returns to compose the score for the sequel as well as adapting Henry Mancini's Pink Panther theme.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 13% based on 137 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Underutilizing its talented cast, The Pink Panther 2 is little more than a series of lame slapstick gags." [8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 36 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, up from the first film's "B". [10]

Box office

The Pink Panther 2 grossed $35.9 million in North America and $40 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $75.9 million, against a budget of $70 million. [2] The film made $11.6 million in its opening weekend, finishing fourth at the box office. [11] The film was released in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2009, and opened at #8. [12]

Future

On November 19, 2020, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) announced that a new Pink Panther film is in the works with Sonic the Hedgehog director Jeff Fowler attached to direct and Chris Bremner attached to write the script. Unlike the previous films which only focused on Inspector Clouseau, the new film will focus on both Clouseau and the animated Pink Panther cartoon character. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blake Edwards</span> American filmmaker (1922–2010)

Blake Edwards was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inspector Clouseau</span> Fictional character created by Blake Edwards

Inspector Jacques Clouseau, later granted the rank of Chief Inspector, is a fictional character in Blake Edwards' farcical The Pink Panther series. Clouseau's immense ego, eccentricity, exaggerated French accent, and prominent mustache are all a parody of Hercule Poirot, the fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. He is portrayed by Peter Sellers in the original series, and also by Alan Arkin in the 1968 film Inspector Clouseau and, in a cameo, by Roger Moore in the 1983 film Curse of the Pink Panther. In the 2006 reboot and its 2009 sequel, Clouseau is portrayed by Steve Martin. Clouseau's likeness also appears in the Pink Panther animated cartoon shorts and segments, where he is known as simply "the Inspector".

The Pink Panther is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the film The Pink Panther in 1963. The role of Clouseau was originated by and is most closely associated with Peter Sellers. Most of the films were written and directed by Blake Edwards, with theme music composed by Henry Mancini. Elements and characters inspired by the films were adapted into other media, including books, comic books, video games and animated series.

DePatie–Freleng Enterprises was an American animation studio founded by former Warner Bros. Cartoons employees in May 1963, before being acquired and renamed by Marvel to Marvel Productions in 1981. Based in Burbank, California, DFE produced animation for film and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Lom</span> Czech-British actor (1917– 2012)

Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru, known professionally as Herbert Lom, was a Czech-British actor with a career spanning over 60 years. His cool demeanour and precise, elegant elocution saw him cast as criminals or suave villains in his younger years, and professional men and nobles as he aged. Highly versatile, he also proved a skilled comic actor in The Pink Panther franchise, playing the beleaguered Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in seven films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burt Kwouk</span> British actor (1930–2016)

Herbert Tsangtse Kwouk, was a British actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Cato in the Pink Panther films. He made appearances in many television programmes, including a portrayal of Imperial Japanese Army Major Yamauchi in the British drama series Tenko and as Entwistle in Last of the Summer Wine.

<i>The Inspector</i> American animated film series

The Inspector is an American series of 34 theatrical cartoon shorts produced between 1965 and 1969 by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists. The cartoons are dedicated to an animated version of Inspector Clouseau comically battling against a rogues' gallery of internationally styled villains.

<i>A Shot in the Dark</i> (1964 film) 1964 film by Blake Edwards

A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards in Panavision. Produced as a standalone sequel to The Pink Panther, it is the second installment in the eponymous film series, with Peter Sellers reprising his role as Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the French Sûreté.

<i>Trail of the Pink Panther</i> 1982 comedy film by Blake Edwards

Trail of the Pink Panther is a 1982 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers. It is the seventh film in The Pink Panther series, the first film in the series following Sellers's death and also the last in which he appeared as Inspector Clouseau. Sellers died 18 months before production began; his performance consists entirely of his deleted scenes and outtakes from previous films. Although the Sellers estate sued United Artists and the unauthorized use of the footage was ruled illegal, the film was allowed to be released. The newly shot material in the film stars Joanna Lumley as journalist Marie Jouvet searching for the missing Clouseau – and running afoul of the inspector's enemies who do not wish to see him return.

<i>The Pink Panther Strikes Again</i> 1976 American British comedy film by Blake Edwards

The Pink Panther Strikes Again is a 1976 comedy film. The fifth film in The Pink Panther series, its plot begins three years after the conclusion of The Return of the Pink Panther. Unused footage from the film was later included in Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), released after Peter Sellers's death.

<i>The Return of the Pink Panther</i> 1975 detective comedy film by Blake Edwards

The Return of the Pink Panther is a 1975 comedy film and the fourth film in The Pink Panther series. The film stars Peter Sellers returning to the role of Inspector Clouseau for the first time since A Shot in the Dark (1964), after having declined to reprise the role in Inspector Clouseau (1968).

The Pink Panther is a series of films featuring the fictional Inspector Clouseau, played by Peter Sellers, that began in 1963.

<i>Curse of the Pink Panther</i> 1983 American film

Curse of the Pink Panther is a 1983 comedy film and a continuation of The Pink Panther series of films created by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s. The film was one of two produced concurrently following the death of the series' star Peter Sellers. Whereas the previous film Trail of the Pink Panther made use of unused footage of Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and starred Joanna Lumley as journalist Marie Jouvet, Curse attempted to relaunch the series with a new lead, Ted Wass, as inept American detective Clifton Sleigh, assigned to find the missing Inspector Clouseau.

<i>Son of the Pink Panther</i> 1993 film by Blake Edwards

Son of the Pink Panther is a 1993 comedy film. It is the ninth and final installment of the original The Pink Panther film series starting from the 1963 film. Directed by Blake Edwards, it stars Roberto Benigni as Inspector Clouseau's illegitimate son. Also in this film are Panther regulars Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk and Graham Stark and a star of the original 1963 film, Claudia Cardinale. It was the final film for both director Blake Edwards and composer Henry Mancini; Mancini died on June 14, 1994, and Edwards retired from film-making in 1995.

<i>The Pink Panther</i> (2006 film) 2006 comedy film directed by Shawn Levy

The Pink Panther is a 2006 American comedy-mystery film and a reboot of The Pink Panther franchise, marking the tenth installment in the series. It is also the first Pink Panther film to be released since Son of the Pink Panther in 1993. In this film, Inspector Jacques Clouseau is assigned to solve the murder of a famous soccer coach and the theft of the famous Pink Panther diamond. The film was directed by Shawn Levy, stars Steve Martin as Clouseau and also co-stars Kevin Kline, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, and Beyoncé Knowles.

<i>The Pink Panther</i> (1963 film) 1963 detective comedy film by Blake Edwards

The Pink Panther is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and distributed by United Artists. It was written by Maurice Richlin and Blake Edwards. It is the first installment in The Pink Panther franchise. Its story follows Inspector Jacques Clouseau as he travels from Rome to Cortina d'Ampezzo to catch a notorious jewel thief known as "The Phantom" before he is able to steal a priceless diamond known as "The Pink Panther". The film stars David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, Capucine and Claudia Cardinale.

<i>Inspector Clouseau</i> (film) 1968 detective comedy film by Bud Yorkin

Inspector Clouseau is a 1968 British comedy film, and the third installment in The Pink Panther film series. It was directed by Bud Yorkin, written by brothers Frank Waldman and Tom Waldman and stars Alan Arkin as the title character. It was filmed by Mirisch Films at the MGM-British Studios, Borehamwood and in Europe.

<i>Revenge of the Pink Panther</i> 1978 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards

Revenge of the Pink Panther is a 1978 comedy film. It is the sixth film in The Pink Panther comedy film series. Released in 1978, it is the final on-set performance of Peter Sellers in the role of Inspector Jacques Clouseau. It was also the last installment in the series that was distributed solely by United Artists; the company was absorbed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer three years after the film's release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink Panther (character)</span> Fictional animated character

The Pink Panther is a fictional animated character who appears in the opening or closing credit sequences of every film in The Pink Panther series except for A Shot in the Dark and Inspector Clouseau. In the storyline of the original film, the "Pink Panther" is the name of a valuable pink diamond named for a flaw that shows a "figure of a springing panther" when held up to the light in a certain way; in the credits this was translated to an animated pink panther. Only the first Pink Panther film and its third sequel, The Return of the Pink Panther, featured the diamond.

References

  1. ↑ "AFI|Catalog". Archived from the original on 2019-02-09. Retrieved 2019-02-08.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Pink Panther 2 (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
  3. ↑ "Zwart to direct Pink Panther". Norway Post. May 27, 2007. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
  4. 1 2 Dawtrey, Adam (November 14, 2006). "New Cash Stash for MGM". Variety. Archived from the original on July 19, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  5. ↑ Official web site Archived 2008-06-10 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ "Scribes adding color to 'Pink'". Hollywood Reporter. January 12, 2007. Archived from the original on August 30, 2008.
  7. ↑ "I had no idea these 10 movies were filmed in NJ". 6 June 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-11-25. Retrieved 2022-11-25.
  8. ↑ "Pink Panther 2 (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media. Archived from the original on July 23, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  9. ↑ "The Pink Panther 2 (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Archived from the original on 2009-02-05. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  10. ↑ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-17. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
  11. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for February 6–8, 2009". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  12. ↑ "Weekend box office 13th February 2009 - 15th February 2009". www.25thframe.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  13. ↑ Kroll, Justin (August 22, 2020). "'Pink Panther': MGM Developing Live-Action/CGI Hybrid Movie With 'Sonic The Hedgehog's Jeff Fowler Directing". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.