Garth Franklin’s always up-to-the-minute movie news site Dark Horizons posts some new details on Steve Martin’s attempts to revitalize the Pink Panther movie franchise, with a new film set to be released in 2005. It’s changed it’s name from Birth Of… (which would have seen the series start from scratch again) to the now official title The Mask Of The Pink Panther, a move that sees this next instalment described as “the tenth film in the franchise and it has a contemporary setting”. Martin will play the original Inspector Clouseau’s son, playing an older version of the character introduced by Roberto Benigni, though Martin will “look and sound much more like Peter Sellers than Benigni did. [His] hair will be dyed black and he will wear the moustache”. The Panther in the title refers to the “recovery of a long-forgotten treasure” and the fact that Clouseau’s boss “goes insane and starts seeing the cartoon Pink Panther whenever his least favorite detective is present”!

Regarding the original, classic series, there may be reason to hold off buying this April’s collection of Sellers-only Panther films: namely the fact that, to conincide with The Mask…‘s release, “the entire series – all nine instalments – will be released on DVD in the Spring of 2005”. The trailer for the new film will be included, with the current box set (which actually loses The Return Of The Pink Panther due to copyright issues with Artisan) off the market at that point. This presumably means that MGM will have settled the issues with Artisan (who have their own Return disc out separately) and will be able to release the full series: The Pink Panther, A Shot In The Dark, 1968’s bizarre and rarely seen Alan Arkin-starrer Inspector Clouseau, The Return Of The Pink Panther, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, The Revenge Of The Pink Panther and the Sellers-less Trail Of The Pink Panther (created using deleted scenes and outtakes from the previous films in the series), The Curse Of The Pink Panther and the 1993 first attempt at getting the series going again, The Son Of The Pink Panther.

Finally, the Dark Horizons piece ends with a word of good advice, suggesting that “fans should hold onto their [already released and available] Region 2 DVD box as it contains a number of extras that could not be cleared for copyright in the Region 1 box”. It’s worth noting also, that the Sellers box comes loaded with a disc of original DePatie-Freleng Pink Panther cartoons, and it is not known if these will be carried over to next year’s re-issues. Guess that panther is permanently in the pink!