Movies · News

Ryan Reynolds is Remaking ‘Clue’

The board game adaptation will be part of a first-look deal with Fox.
Deadpool
By  · Published on January 23rd, 2018

The board game adaptation will be part of a first-look deal with Fox.

Ryan Reynolds recently committed to 20th Century Fox by signing a three-year first-look deal with the studio, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and he already has his first project in the works. The Deadpool star is taking on a remake of the cult classic board game adaptation Clue.

The deal with Fox occurs amidst a key merger that will move much of the studio to the Disney family, changing the game for many a franchise. One of those is the Marvel-based entity X-Men, of which Reynolds is obviously a huge part.

The Disney buyout is expected to take up to a year to finalize, however. So, while the actor/producer contemplates the consequences of the merger on his further portrayals of the profane “merc with a mouth,” his first-look deal ensures more creative control of projects outside of the superhero market.

Fox notably allowed Reynolds to explore the Deadpool character to his heart’s content after the tepid response (at best) to the considerably rewritten version of Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Together, Fox and Reynolds managed to produce what ultimately became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time. Deadpool catapulted the X-Men back into the spotlight and the sequel is a hugely anticipated film of 2018.

Hence, the fact that Reynolds is staying within a tightly-knit group of successful collaborators is not a surprise. His Clue remake will also employ the talents of Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Reynolds is expected to produce the film through his company, Maximum Effort, together with Allspark Pictures, the producing arm of Hasbro.

Clue is a popular mystery board game wherein players take on monikers and try to solve a murder that takes place in a mansion, deducing who’s responsible for the killing and how it was done. Its 1985 translation to the big screen, starring a who’s who of comedy talent, provided moviegoers with three different possible endings in theaters. After disappointing at the box office, it gained popularity on home video.

There has been talk of another adaptation over the years, with Universal announcing a Clue reboot back in 2011. At one point, Gore Verbinski was set to produce and direct,  but the project puttered around in development hell and ultimately fell through.

This attempt is still in its early stages, and how the team aims to tackle the material remains to be seen. Game and toy adaptations usually have a hard time with critics. But Clue‘s mixture of mystery and comedy wouldn’t be new territory for Reese and Wernick, whose other credits include Zombieland and Life, or even Reynolds himself.

Just as long as we don’t get a racy take on a family favorite board game — given all their track records with R-rated releases, we do have to wonder.

Related Topics:

Sheryl Oh often finds herself fascinated (and let's be real, a little obsessed) with actors and their onscreen accomplishments, developing Film School Rejects' Filmographies column as a passion project. She's not very good at Twitter but find her at @sherhorowitz anyway. (She/Her)