The film was directed by Shawn Levy, stars Steve Martin as Clouseau and also co-stars Kevin Kline, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, and Beyoncé Knowles.

After France wins in sudden death, Gluant is killed by a poison dart, with the Pink Panther nowhere to be found.

Although Clouseau makes little progress in the case, due to his clumsiness, he still discovers that many people hated Gluant and even wanted to kill him.

Bizu, a France player who blamed Gluant for "stealing away" Xania, is the prime murder suspect until he is shot in the head in the team's locker room.

Clouseau sees an article online about his arrest and notices something in the picture from which he deduces that Gluant and Bizu were killed by the same person.

Realizing that Xania will be the killer's next target, Clouseau, Ponton, and Nicole hurry to the Élysée Palace and sneak into the Presidential Ball.

While Dreyfus errantly arrests Dr. Pang, Clouseau and Ponton save Xania's life by capturing her would-be assassin: Yuri, the France team's trainer.

[4][5] A collaboration between Steve Martin and producer Robert Simonds, who had worked together on Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther had a production budget of US$80 million.

"With the recent acquisition of MGM, we wanted to give our marketing department the time and opportunity to launch this very important franchise," Sony Pictures Releasing president Rory Bruer said.

"[7] As per tradition of the original Pink Panther films, animated opening titles are featured, provided by Kurtz & Friends.

The site's critical consensus reads: "Though Steve Martin is game, the particulars of the Inspector Clouseau character elude him in this middling update.

[16] David Newman was originally chosen to compose the score for the film, but was quickly replaced by Christophe Beck.