The Pink Panther Edwards tried again to revive the series, this time by casting Roberto Benigni as Gendarme Jacques Gambrelli, Inspector Clouseau's illegitimate son by Maria Gambrelli, the murder suspect from "A Shot in the Dark." Once again, many former Panther co-stars return – Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk, and Graham Stark, and a star of the original 1963 film, Claudia Cardinale. Although intended to relaunch the series with a new lovable inept hero, "Son" failed critically and commercially and became the final installment in the original Pink Panther series. This reboot launches a new series starring Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau and Kevin
Revenge of the Pink Panther very little that Mr. Edwards and Mr. Sellers could do that would make you find the movie disappointing." "Romance of the Pink Panther" was a "Pink Panther" film that Sellers was working on—and willing to make without Edwards—before Sellers' fatal heart attack in July 1980. UA considered recasting the role before convincing Blake Edwards to return to the series. Edwards chose to replace Clouseau with a new character rather than replace Sellers as Clouseau and to utilize outtakes from "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" to set up a transitional film ("Trail of the Pink Panther") with new linking footage shot