I LOVE Clue. The game, the movie, love them both. Thanks to Clue, it’s a life-long dream to solve a murder at a dinner party where Everyone Is A Suspect. So it’s with a resounding “meh” that I greet the news that Ryan Reynolds has made a deal to develop a new Clue movie along with Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. What? Why not jumping for joy? Well, one, no one will ever top/replace Tim Curry or Madeline Kahn in a Clue movie. The 1985 movie also starred Christopher Lloyd, Lesley Ann Warren, Martin Mull, Michael McKean, and Eileen Brennan (if you’re asking, “Who?” fix your life and get to know Captain Doreen Lewis). That’s a GREAT cast. I’m sure a new Clue movie could also attract a great cast, but, eh. We’ve already got a Clue movie with a great cast. Also, would they have the guts to try something unorthodox like the multiple endings the original did? Can you even do something like that these days, or would everyone be mad that they’re seeing different versions?
But the real reason I’m having a hard time getting excited for a new Clue movie is that it’s part of a new first-look deal Reynolds has struck with Fox, which is in the process of being bought out by Disney. Fox has to proceed as if assuming the deal might not go through, but really, within the next eighteen months or so, Fox is going to be subsumed by Disney. That means taking on all of Fox’s current and developing productions. Do we assume Disney honors this deal? They probably will, I can’t think of a reason not to be in the Ryan Reynolds business, and Clue fits into Disney’s IP-driven slate. But the other side of Reynolds’ deal is with Hasbro, which owns the rights to Clue. So even if Disney takes it on, does Hasbro want to be in the Disney business? Does Ryan Reynolds want to be in the Disney business? (Beyond Deadpool, which he won’t have a choice about, that is.)
It’s just a lot of question marks. We’re going to hear about deals being made at Fox, and projects continuing through development, but over all of it is the sword of Disney, which could fall at any time, and then we’ll see what does and does not make the cut. A Clue movie seems to fit right in, but the reality is we just don’t know what is going to happen once Disney takes over and Fox ceases to exist as an independent studio. So any project under development at Fox, no matter how cool it sounds, comes with dampened expectations because there is always a chance it gets canned, depending on what is Disney’s plan for Fox’s properties. So, yeah, Ryan Reynolds and the Deadpool writers are going to develop a Clue movie, that sounds neat. Now let’s see if Disney makes it.
