The Simpsons Director Takes On Pink Panther

David Silverman, ‘The Simpsons’ director will hit the big screens with the Pink Panther movie, an upcoming live-action project.

The animated cool cat character is hoping to be a new hit film franchise, according to MGM bosses.

This project will not have Inspector Jacques Clouseau as featured in the Pink Panther movies, but rather a cat who already appeared on TV and in opening credits of Peter Seller’s movies.

Veteran producer Walter Mirisch, who already oversaw the original Pink Panther movies as well as TV series, will be the new producer, together with Dame Julie Andrews, the widow of late Blake Edwards who directed the classic  1960s and 1970s movies.

Silverman, director of The Simpsons Movie, is also attached to producing.

The actress said,

“I am delighted that the legacy of Blake’s iconic Pink Panther franchise will continue to grow in its new hybrid form. It is exciting that the quintessential ‘next step’ for our beloved Panther will be enjoyed by a fourth generation of audiences. I feel that Blake is encouraging us on.”

The last Pink Panther movie had its focus on Clouseau, where Roberto Benigni played the detective in 1993.

In 2006 and 2009 the same role was given to Steve Martin.

The iconic pink cartoon cat made his debut in the sequence of the 1963 Blake Edwards comedy The Pink Panther, and was later developed by the team of Friz Freleng, John Dunn and Hawley Pratt for a long-running series of theatrical shorts.