| The Pink Panther | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Shawn Levy |
| Produced by | Robert Simonds |
| Screenplay by | Len Blum Steve Martin |
| Story by | Michael Saltzman Len Blum |
| Based on | The Pink Panther by Blake Edwards Maurice Richlin |
| Starring | Steve Martin Anne Katarine Kevin Kline Jean Reno Emily Mortimer Henry Czerny Kristin Chenoweth Roger Rees Beyoncé Knowles Jason Statham |
| Music by | Christophe Beck Henry Mancini (Theme) |
| Cinematography | Jonathan Brown |
| Editing by | George Folsey, Jr. Brad E. Wilhite |
| Studio | Robert Simonds Productions The Montecito Picture Company International Production Company |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 10, 2006 |
| Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | United States France Czech Republic |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80 million |
| Box office | $182,071,965[1] |
The Pink Panther is a 2006 American comedy film and a reboot of The Pink Panther film series. In this film, Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin) is assigned to solve the murder of a famous soccer coach and the theft of the famous Pink Panther diamond. The film also stars Kevin Kline, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, and Beyoncé Knowles. It was panned by critics and holds a 23% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it was a box office success and became the highest-grossing film of the Pink Panther series.
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The film opens as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Kevin Kline) narrates a flashback of a soccer match between France and China. French coach Yves Gluant (Jason Statham) comes down the stadium, wearing the Pink Panther diamond ring, and kisses his girlfriend, pop star Xania (Beyoncé Knowles), after whispering to her. After the game, Yves dies with a poison dart in his neck and the Pink Panther missing from his hand. Eager to win the Medal of Honor (the Légion d'honneur), Dreyfus promotes a clumsy policeman, Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin), to the rank of Inspector and assigns him to the Pink Panther case. Meanwhile, Dreyfus assembles a secret team of top investigators to crack the case, allowing Clouseau to serve as the public face of the investigation so that media attention is focused on Clouseau, rather than Dreyfus' team. Dreyfus assigns Gilbert Ponton (Jean Reno) as Clouseau's assistant and instructs Ponton to keep him informed of Clouseau's actions.
Bizu (William Abadie), the prime suspect being a star footballer who hated Gluant, is shot in the head and killed. While at a casino to interrogate its owner, Raymond Larocque (Roger Rees), Gluant's business partner, he encounters British Secret Agent 006, Nigel Boswell (Clive Owen, parodying James Bond). Boswell foils a robbery at the casino by the notorious "Gas-Masked Bandits". Clouseau mistakenly receives credit for the deed in the press and is nominated for the Medal of Honour, much to Dreyfus's dismay.
Clouseau follows Xania to New York City, suspecting that she knows more than she is telling. Meanwhile, based on the fact that the poison that killed Gluant was derived from Chinese herbs, Dreyfus concludes that the killer is a Chinese envoy named Dr. Pang. Now ready to take charge of the case and win the Medal of Honour, Dreyfus has Clouseau's bag switched with one full of weapons at the airport for his return flight to France. The bag sets off the metal detector at the security gate and Clouseau is arrested. Upon his return to France, the press vilifies him and Dreyfus strips him of his rank. The Chief Inspector plots to publicly arrest Dr. Pang at the Presidential Ball.
At home, Clouseau is reading an online article about his arrest when he notices something significant in the photo. He deduces that the murderer will next try to kill Xania and contacts Ponton. The two detectives rush to the Élysée Palace and sneak into the Presidential Ball with the help of Clouseau's former secretary, Nicole Durant (Emily Mortimer). While Dreyfus arrests Dr. Pang for double murder, Clouseau and Ponton save Xania's life by capturing her would-be assassin, Yuri (Henry Czerny), the French soccer team's trainer, who believes he was the one who helped the team succeed but Gluant took all the credit. Clouseau explains that the fact that Bizu was shot in the occipital lobe of the brain; this led Clouseau to believe Yuri to be the killer, as Russian military are specifically trained to know the location of the occipital lobe. Clouseau reveals that Yuri tried to kill Xania out of revenge at her dismissing him as nothing while dating Gluant. Clouseau also reveals that the Pink Panther diamond was never stolen, but is sewn into the lining of Xania's purse, Xania having received it from Gluant as an engagement ring. She had kept it secret to avoid becoming a suspect in her late fiancee's murder which could have destroyed her singing career. Clouseau explains that he saw the diamond in the online photograph of his arrest, which showed Xania's purse on the airport's luggage scanner. For successfully solving the case, Clouseau wins the Medal of Honour.
The Pink Panther had a production budget of US$80 million.[1] Filming began on May 10, 2004.[2]
| Professional reviews | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 38/100[3] |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 22%[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
The film received mixed to negative reviews and holds a 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Pink Panther opened atop the US weekend box office for February 10–12, 2006, grossing $20,220,412 from 3,477 theaters.[5] However, in its initial week it charted at number two with total gross revenue of $25,685,498.[6] The film's best weekend was that of February 17–20, when it took $20,863,217.[5] The Pink Panther closed in US theaters on April 16, 2006, having grossed $82,226,474 in its ten weeks of release. Overseas, the film took $76,624,883, resulting in total box office gross revenue of $158,851,357, nearly twice its budget. US screenings made up 51.8% of box office takings, with international viewings responsible for 48.2%.[1] The Pink Panther is the highest-grossing film in The Pink Panther franchise; however in real terms it is the fifth-most successful film in the franchise.[7]
The Pink Panther was released for home viewing on June 13, 2006, and sold 693,588 DVD copies, worth $9,391,182. To date the film has sold 1,579,116 copies—$23,216,770 of consumer spending.[8]
Christophe Beck is credited with the film score which was released as the soundtrack album The Pink Panther about one month following the release of the film.[9] Singer Beyoncé Knowles performed two songs for the film, "A Woman Like Me" and "Check on It". The latter serves as the film's theme song aside from the Pink Panther theme.
Numerous other songs were used in small parts, but only Beck's original score was included on the soundtrack album.[9][10]
The sequel to this film titled The Pink Panther 2 was released on February 6, 2009.
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