James Bobin in talks to direct Ryan Reynolds’ remake of Clue

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It's been well over two years since it was first announced that Ryan Reynolds (FREE GUY) would be starring in a remake of CLUE, the 1985 film based upon the Hasbro board-game of the same name, and the project is setting its sights on a director as James Bobin, best known for the recent MUPPETS movies, is now in early talks to helm the project.

I know what you're thinking, "Kevin, wasn't Jason Bateman suppose to direct (and star in) CLUE?" You're right, Bateman was slated to direct and co-star in the film alongside Ryan Reynolds, but he's had to drop out of both roles due to scheduling conflicts with Ozark, his crime drama at Netflix. Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who have worked with Reynolds on LIFE, 6 UNDERGROUND, and the two DEADPOOL movies, have penned the script for CLUE, which they have previously teased could result in an R-rated film. "It will have elements of [the original movie], but it’s important that we don’t try and just rehash it. We want to build on it. We want to take some of what makes it fun and funny, but then we want to do our own thing," the pair explained. "It’s about finding that balance. Hopefully we don’t upset the Clue-hounds because there are a lot of them apparently. We didn’t realize this until we signed up."

Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick also spoke with our own JimmyO prior to the release of ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP, with Reese saying that their version of CLUE will have suspense and "hopefully" be thrilling, but that "most of our movies are comedy first, and thrills second. So we’re definitely leaning in hard on the comedy. It's going to be really fun… It really will have stakes and gravitas. When maybe not so much gravitas, it's broad, but someone will die. So it's going to be real." Reese added that their hope is to make CLUE in the same vein as DEADPOOL and ZOMBIELAND in terms of comedy. While we wait to discover who killed Ryan Reynolds in the drawing room with a lead pipe, our next dose of Reynolds will arrive with the release of FREE GUY on July 3, 2020.