“What Do You Mean, Murder?”: Clue and the Making of a Cult Classic

Hatch (editor, Danish Apostle: The Diaries of Anthon H. Lund) delves deep into the making of the cult classic film Clue. Based on the board game of the same name, Clue was released in 1985 to middling reviews and bombed at the box office, failing to recoup its $15 million budget. However, audiences found and enjoyed the film via home video and frequent showings on cable television. Screenwriters John Landis and Jonathan Lynn (who also directed) created a murder mystery with all the traditional elements: an elaborate mansion, a raging thunderstorm, and the color-termed characters from the board game. They also added an unusual element—three different endings. Therefore, three different films were shown in theaters, but all three outcomes were included in the video and television releases. Sprinkled with grim humor and mildly risqué double entendre dialogue, this book proves that Clue as a film offers new revelations during repeated viewings. Hatch consulted production notes and interviews with some of the remaining actors and crew members to analyze the development, the casting, and each scene. His book includes the dates on which each scene was filmed and the number of takes it took.