Aishwarya Rai joins Pink Panther sequel

The most beautiful woman in the world, Aishwarya Rai, joined The Pink Panther sequel this week with Andy Garcia, John Cleese, Alfred Molina, and, of course, Steve Martin. Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer have also re-signed to reprise their roles from the original. The sequel was announced way back in March of last year but has been moving forward slowly, finally getting a cast together and picking a release date of February 13th, 2009. Director Shawn Levy has left The Pink Panther franchise and Harold Zwart (Agent Cody Banks 2) will take over, working from a script by Scott Neustadter, Mike Weber, Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel, and Steve Martin. Yes, we're surprised it took five people to write The Pink Panther 2 as well. Variety reports the casting news and that Robert Simonds will produce and Ira Shuman will executive produce The Pink Panther 2.
In the film, John Cleese will play chief inspector Dreyfus, the classic character from The Pink Panther movies of old. Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina, and Aishwarya Rai will play detectives and experts who have to join forces with Inspector Clouseau to catch a thief who has been stealing artifacts around the world. The first Pink Panther with Steve Martin made $140 million worldwide on a small budget.
Andy Garcia was recently seen in Smokin' Aces and Ocean's Thirteen and is currently shooting South of the Border with Salma Hayek and The Last Full Measure with Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman. John Cleese appeared earlier this year in Shrek the Third and has finished voice work on Igor with John Cusack and Steve Buscemi as well. Steve Martin hasn't shot a movie since the last The Pink Panther. Alfred Molina can be caught on The Company on TNT right now and has finished voice work on The Ten Commandments and finished shooting Silk with Keira Knightley and The Little Traitor. Finally, Aishwarya Rai is one of the most popular actresses in the world but has slowly eased her way into American cinema, appearing in Provoked earlier this year and the yet-to-be-released The Last Legion while she continues to work regularly in Bollywood. Aishwarya Rai is shooting Singularity with Brendan Fraser, according to IMDB.