King Tut and The Pink Panther: Only one involves Steve Martin
I hope to God that some of you are old enough to
remember the glory days of SNL, back when it was funny, and Steve
Martin was both a wild and crazy guy and the funkiest Tut the world has ever known. If you are, you'll understand
why, when I read the news this morning that Paramount is planning to make a movie about
King Tut (different from Roland Emmerich's King
Tut, which seems to have stalled to the point of death), my first thought was that Martin must have at least a
cameo in the movie - I mean, think of the potential! The obvious inspiration here is the success of the Mummy
series, and people went to see those films because they were campy fun - how can a good King Tut movie properly
follow in those footsteps without Steve Martin? Sadly, however, Paramount has not yet seen the light, and
Martin isn't associated with the project, which is described as "an action-adventure/romance pic, loosely based on
Howard Carter's discovery of...Tut's treasures in 1922 Egypt."Even more disappointingly, Martin is sure to appear in the movie that no one wanted but everyone saw coming: a sequel to his Pink Panther. The thing about this series is that even the originals weren't that good. Peter Sellers made them fairly tolerable, and there were rare moments of inspiration (most of them involving the above-it-all David Niven and George Sanders) but, really, even the real thing was average at best. If nothing else, then, Martin's installments will send us running back to the Sellers versions with a newfound regard for their passionate mediocrity.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-09-2006 @ 8:54PM
Mick said...
The original Pink Panther films were damn funny, especially from the middle of the series. Sellers, Kwouk and co. made some of the funniest movies ever with some scenes that will go down in comedy history.
Martin, however, has sucked for years and with the exception of the excellent Bowfinger, has shown no signs of getting out of the rut. If you're getting a rep for not being funny don't take on roles previously played by geniuses like Phil Silvers and Peter Sellers. You were close in your prime but they're well over the horizon now mate.
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3-09-2006 @ 9:50PM
The godwatcher said...
THANK YOU!
I love Peter Sellers, the guy is hilarious, but Pink Panther movies suck.
Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy are not lost causes, they just need someone to (I'm not actually suggesting this) kill their agents, and then they'll stop making drivel for cash.
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