Clue, orCluedoas it’s called in some parts of the world, has been a popular mystery solving board game for decades. It was adapted for the big screen in the 1980s as a murder-mystery-comedy that has become a cult classic. That movie also provided the basis for a stage adaptation. Despite the popularity of that particular version of the characters, there have also been numerous versions of the game since then. The crux of the story always remains the same though: at least six people are united in one place when Mr. Body is murdered - and they’re all suspects. A remake of the movie has been in development for a few years now.
There are a lot of mixed feelings about the potential remake ofCluefor the big screen. On the one hand, Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman are both attached to the project, and both actors definitely have a knack for knowing what their audience is interested in. While it’s likely both actors will play one of the primary six roles in the movie, it’s also entirely possible either of them could play original characters. If they do, the field of actors for the primary characters long associated with the game is wide open.
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Giancarlo Esposito As Colonel Mustard
Since it’s not entirely clear which version ofCluewill be adapted for Ryan Reynolds’ version of the movie, it’s also not clear which version of the main characters will be on-screen. There have been a few different versions of the character across the games and movie, but ultimately he’s a military man.
In the movie, he’s a war profiteer who has made his living selling off stolen military technology on the black market, but he’s lived his life as a seemingly upstanding citizen. Giancarlo Esposito could easily make the character appear trustworthy to begin with while hiding whatever secrets the script calls for.Esposito is also an incredibly versatile actor, best known for his work in dramas, but able to really go campy for a comedic role when he chooses. That would allow him to either play Colonel Mustard as a more bombastic figure or the straight man to the other comedic actors with relative ease.
Randall Park As Mr. Green
Randall Park is an often overlooked actor when it comes to comedies because he knows exactly when to pull back and allow his costars to shine. Like so many great comedic actors, he’s got impeccable timing and delivery, which is also part of what allows him to play off of his costars so well.
Mr. Green was a reverend in the original board game, but an undercover FBI agent and a closeted man in the original movie. His character in particular has gone through a lot of changes in the games, so there’s no telling which version of the character would be brought to the big screen again. It wouldn’t matter as Park’s role asa government agent in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a video store employee in Netflix’sBlockbusterseries, and a family man trying to make adjustments in a fish-out-of-water story inFresh Off The Boatall mean that Park can pull off any comedic role in an ensemble.
Aubrey Plaza As Mrs. White
ActorAubrey Plaza is known for her deadpan deliveryof some of the most ridiculous lines, which is why she’d make a great addition to the cast. Her particular style of comedy would work well in scenes with other actors taking on the louder or more flamboyant of characters while she holds the group together. She would make for an interesting Mrs. White, no matter which direction the movie takes the character.
The original games, after all, saw Mrs. White as one of the members of the household staff, a role that was filled by Yvette in the 1985 movie. In the movie, Mrs. White is instead one of the party guests, and it’s implied her name is an alias, and that she might be something of a black widow, having lost multiple husbands under mysterious circumstances. That’s definitely a role Plaza wouldn’t have to work too hard to sell, and could really have fun with. Of course, later versions of the game have also made the character a former child actress, a lawyer, or a nanny, so there’s a range of careers that the character could have in the upcoming reboot.
Jennifer Coolidge As Mrs. Peacock
In a lot of fancastings, Meryl Streep is one of the top picks for Mrs. Peacock, and while that is a formidable casting choice, Jennifer Coolidge would be just as great in the role. She’s a phenomenal character actress who gets most of her recognition for her role in theLegally Blondemovies,but her turn inWhite Lotushas also recently turned heads. She would make for a brilliant Mrs. Peacock.
Like Mrs. White, the character has seen a lot of changes in the board games, and has had a lot of husbands die under mysterious circumstances. In some versions of the story, she’s a gossip who plays bridge with the party host, while in others, she’s an ornithologist, and in still others, she’s tied to the world of politics, whether with her own political aspirations, or as in the 1985 movie, as the wife of a politician who knows a lot of secrets of powerful people. All of those things could be true of Coolidge’s version of the character and the audience would run with it.
Keegan-Michael Key As Professor Plum
Lately,Keegan-Michael Key has been doing a lot of voiceover workfor animated properties, which is definitely great work for actors who are able to showcase emotions well with just their voice. While he’s known for being able to play more outlandish characters, Key has also shown his ability to play reserved characters in intensely comedic situations, like the action-comedyKeanu, which is why he’s the perfect choice to fill therole originally played by Christopher Lloyd.
The movie version of the character might be one of Lloyd’s most subdued roles. He’s a bit of a womanizer, and a psychiatrist who has had his license revoked. That’s a bit different from the games where Plum is usually described as either a university professor or an archeologist with a lot of skeletons in his closet. Just which type of intellectual the character would be wouldn’t necessarily matter for Key, but he could definitely entertain the audience as a womanizer without crossing too far into the offensive territory.
Olivia Liang As Miss Scarlet
Olivia Liang has a lot of experience in genre television rather than comedy, unlike most of the actors here. That being said, the movie needs to be grounded by someone who isn’t there to land the next punchline, and that could be her as Miss Scarlet. She could appear as one of the most earnest of characters, but pull the rug out from under the audience in the final act.
Depending on the version of the game, Miss Scarlet is a mercenary, a femme fatale, or an actress playing one. She’s even been the daughter of Mrs. Peacock in some versions of the game’s story. In most versions of the game, her name is an alias to hide her real identity, which is something preserved for the 1985 movie. There, however, she led an escort service that had a lot of dirt on politicians. Liang has experience in martial arts thanks to her lead role in the CW’sKung-Furemake, which would make her an even better candidate to play a Miss Scarlet who is a fighter.
Miss Scarlet is also one of the few original Clue characters to have her ethnicity changed in remakes. While all the characters were originally white when the game was first created, Miss Scarlet’s ethnicity has fluctuated depending on the game publication. She’s most often portrayed as white or of East Asian descent.
The 1985 version ofClueis available to stream on Paramount Plus. The remake is still in development.
