Eddie Murphy will be new Inspector Clouseau!
The 64-year-old actor appeared on the Today Show, aired on Monday, July 28, to promote his new action-comedy, The Pickup.
During the interview, the Beverly Hills Cop star announced that he is set to star in a new The Pink Panther film as Inspector Clouseau.
“I’m getting ready to do George Clinton. [I’ve] already started Shrek 5. And I’m going to be—I’m Inspector Clouseau in the next Pink Panther,” Murphy told Al Roker.
The host surprisingly asked, “Wait, what? You’re the new Inspector Clouseau?” to which the actor replied, “Yeah, I’m the new Clouseau.”
Roker then asked if he would be playing a French character, like the detective famously portrayed by Peter Sellers in the original films from the 1960s and '70s.
Murphy played coy to the question as he said, "Maybe. Well, he has to be French, but he could also be Haitian. I will tell you, he’s Black. He’s Black, for sure.”
The Pink Panther film was first released in 1963, which starred Sellers as Inspector Clouseau, who is tasked to catch a jewel thief who intends to steal a diamond known as "the pink panther."
Sellers reprised the iconic role in a number of films in the franchise from 60s till he died, in 1980 at age 54.
Later on, Steve Martin starred as the character in a 2006 reboot and a 2009 sequel.
