10 Actors Who Returned To Save Dying Movie Franchises

The role of Inspector Closeau has become so synonymous with The Pink Panther franchise that it's easy to forget that he was initially a secondary character. Peter Sellers performance of the bumbling French detective was so popular that he soon took over from David Niven's 'phantom' as the film's leading character.

Sellers actually wasn’t a massive fan of the series or his character, so it was no shock when he departed after the 1964 sequel A Shot in the Dark. While the character returned in the 1968 film Inspector Closeau, Sellers did not, instead replaced by Alan Arkin. The film tanked at the box office and it seemed like the franchise had met an undignified end.

Thankfully, Sellers was convinced to return to the role and the franchise returned to its former glories. Sellers returned for three more Panther films, as did original director Blake Edwards, with the laughs, positive reviews and box office returns flooding back.

The key to getting Sellers back on board was the promise of funding for his passion projects, which included award winning film Being There. Sellers though was clearly more engaged with the franchise as time wore on, as he was working on writing a new Pink Panther script when he died in 1979.