Last month came word that “The Muppets” helmer James Bobin was is in talks to direct the new live-action adaptation of the classic Hasbro board game “Clue” at 20th Century Studios.
Bobin’s discussion came in the wake of Jason Bateman being in talks to both direct and take on a supporting role, but that’s no longer the case. Ryan Reynolds remains attached to produce and potentially lead the cast of the film penned by “Deadpool” scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.
So why did Bateman leave?
Collider recently spoke with Bateman during promotional rounds for the third season of “Ozark” and he explained that he was forced to drop out when it became clear the time commitment wouldn’t work within the constraints of his “Ozark” schedule:
“[Clue is] something that we were getting very close to starting, but as it turned out something of that size takes much, much longer to do than what the seasonal hiatus was able to accommodate. It would have pushed back the start of this season too far. So unfortunately I had to step off of that.
But if it’s still around when Ozark is all wrapped up, I’d love to do it. But who knows, they might put a different director on it before then. We’ll see. Unfortunately my ability to direct features really kind of – there’s a certain size of a film that I just can’t qualify for [right now] because of the amount of time that I’m able to give in prep, in shooting, and in post.”
Bateman adds that if “Clue” is still in development once his “Ozark” commitments are all done (the third season just launched and a fourth hasn’t yet been announced) he’d be happy to return to the project.
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