Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick offer an update on their Ryan Reynolds-led Clue remake. Reese and Wernick made waves with the 2016 release of Deadpool, but they had been a creative team for years before that, working together on 2009's Zombieland and 2013's G.I. Joe: Retaliation. The duo has since written movies including Deadpool 2, Life, and 6 Underground. Their newest project, Spiderhead, starring Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller, was recently released on Netflix.
The 1985 dark comedy Clue, based on the classic board game, featured an ensemble cast including the likes of Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, and Lesley Ann Warren. It was met with mixed reviews and a poor box office performance at first, but in the decades since its release, it has become a cult classic. A remake was announced and has been in development since 2011. But it wasn't until January of 2018 that 20th Century Fox announced Ryan Reynolds would star in the Clue remake, and that his long-time collaborators Reese and Wernick would write. Besides talks about a couple of possible directors, not much information has come out since then.
In a recent interview with Discussing Film to promote Spiderhead, Reese and Wernick spoke about the slow progress of their Clue movie. They say the project is something they care deeply about, but that the fate of the movie is currently out of their hands. A script is apparently complete and has been delivered to the studio, but due largely to Reynolds' busy schedule, it may take some time for the film to actually be made. Read the full comments below:
Q: Speaking of Ryan Reynolds, a while back he mentioned how he hopes to one day do the Clue movie he was meant to star in. Is that script something you would both want to come to fruition one day?
Rhett Reese: We’ve written a draft of Clue, and it’s still in development over at Fox [20th Century Studios]. So it’s sort of bumping forward, whether it becomes a movie or not is generally in the hands of the movie Gods and not ourselves. So we did our best on it. We’re proud of it. We love the franchise, and Ryan’s schedule is a busy one, so he has to choose among many projects.
We’ll see if Clue ends up coming to fruition, but it’s something we all care pretty deeply about. It’s a fun old movie that I think has passed into memory generationally, but for the people who do remember, it was a blast! We would love to take a crack at bringing it to life again.
The update should be somewhat comforting to anyone looking forward to the movie. There is a completed script and the studio has it, so the movie is moving forward, even if it is slow-moving. The cult status of Clue makes it a bankable project, so it is unlikely to be scrapped. Scheduling will likely be the biggest issue. Reynolds certainly is busy, having released four movies since 2021, not to mention running his YouTube Channel and owning several companies, like Aviation Gin. But if Reynolds is as passionate about the project as Reese and Wernick seem to be, there is lots of hope for the Clue remake.
Reese and Wernick are certainly used to the waiting game when it comes to their movies. Their Netflix film Spiderhead took ten years to finally come to fruition. While Clue has technically been in development longer than that, Reese and Wernick have been involved for only about four years at this point. It still seems that it's fully possible the movie will still happen, but fans, like the writers, will have to wait and see.
Source: Discussing Film