Inspector Gadget (2014 film)

Inspector Gadget is a 2014 American superhero spy film directed by Michael Bay and written by Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, and Evan Daugherty. It is the third theatrical Inspector Gadget film, serving as a reboot of the series and the first in a duology of films. The film stars Paul Rudd as the title character, with Megan Fox, William Fichtner, Mckenna Grace, John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Warburton, and Will Arnett, with Frank Welker reprising his role as Brain from the original series, as well as Dr. Claw in armor, and D. L. Hughley reprising his role from the Disney films. In the film, a man is killed in a car crash, only to be resurrected with robot parts by a tech conglomerate, meanwhile the man who killed him plans revenge and recruits all the crime gangs in Saudi Arabia.

Production began in 2011 after Disney sold the film rights to the franchise two years prior, 20th Century Fox, Universal, and Sony all had interest in getting the film rights, in the end, Paramount got the film rights. Michael Bay and his film company, Platinum Dunes came on board in 2012, after leaving the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, Bay was attached as director, with Carell joining in November 2012, with most of the cast joining in January 2013, filming lasted between July and November of that year.

Inspector Gadget was released in theaters on August 8, 2014, to mixed-to-negative reviews with praise towards the special effects, soundtrack, action sequences, Rudd's performance as the title character, 3D, and writing, while the unfaithfulness to the source material at times, and story were criticised. Despite this, the film was received well by audiences and some fans, while a majority of fans considered the film mediocre, and the film was a huge box-office success, earning $709.7 million worldwide against a budget of 130-140 million, becoming the most successful Inspector Gadget film until it was beaten by it's sequel.

A sequel, Inspector Gadget 2: Annihilation, was released in 2017, three years after the first film, and managed to gross even more then the first film.