Jason Bateman is reportedly in talks to direct and co-star alongside Ryan Reynolds in a new movie based on the popular Hasbro murder mystery game Clue. The two previously appeared in the 2011 comedy Change Up.
Bateman just won an Emmy this past Sunday for his work directing an episode of the Netflix series Ozark, and this looks to be the first instance of him leveraging that win into more work.
Bateman and Reynolds, who is also producing the project through his Maximum Effort production shingle, will be working on developing the screenplay for the film together. Previously, Deadpool and Zombieland screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick had been working on a script draft for the film.
The game was adapted for the big screen in 1985 as a comedy with an all-star cast including Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean and Martin Mull. Director Jonathan Lynn gave that film three different endings, with each ending attached to different prints sent to different theaters. The three endings were eventually all included on home video releases.
When first announced in August 2016, the project was described as a “worldwide mystery,” far removed from the board game and 1985 movie’s enclosed mansion locale.
This version of Clue is still a bit of a ways in the future. Bateman returned to the Ozark set today for the start of production on season three of the hit show. This season he will direct another two episodes in addition to his duties as starring in the series as a financial adviser to a drug cartel.
