Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that Sony is moving forward with Seth Rogen’s The Green Hornet. Rogen is cureently working on the script with his Superbad co-writer Evan Goldberg. The story follows Britt Reid, a bored playboy who spends his nights fighting crime with his sidekick, Kato (Rogen has said that he wants Stephen Chow for the role). No further details are known at this time. No director has been hired. But we now have a release date: June 25, 2010 - three weeks after Marvel’s Thor, and one week following Pixar’s Toy Story 3.
The crime-fighting character was created by Fran Striker and George Trendle, who also created The Lone Ranger, for a radio serial that launched in 1936. The series has had several incarnations, including film series, a live-action 1960’s television show, and comic books.
Movie studios have been trying to turn The Green Hornet into a feature film for years now. In the 1990s, George Clooney and Jason Scott Lee were supposedly lined up to play the leads. In the late 90s, Music video director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind) worked with RoboCop screenwriter Edward Neumeier on a possible adaptation. In the Summer of 2004, Miramax purchased the rights for a writing/directing vehicle for Clerks director Kevin Smith. Smith later decided that he didn’t want to be responsible for an effects and action laden movie, and the film went into turnaround. And now, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift producer Neal H. Moritz obtained the film rights and optioned them to Sony.
I believe, one of the many reasons a feature film adaptation has never gotten off the ground is that contemporary audiences aren’t interested in this old character. He’s not much of a recognized name outside of the superhero world. In a previous article I theorized that “this could possibly be a good thing, allowing the screenwriters to have more wiggle room (usually comic book cannon prevents writers from straying far from the character’s roots). But on the other hand, look how that turned out for Catwoman.” It seems like Rogen’s take might involve a more comic tone than previous efforts.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:22 am
“contemporary audiences aren’t interested in this old character. He’s not much of a recognized name outside of the superhero world.”
You could say the same for half the comics they want to film..Antman, Nick Fury, Avengers, Submariner, Thor etc. Audiences may go to see Batman or Superman but for the second rate comic characters they’ve never heard of, who cares?
Furthermore, why should Kato be the sidekick to a white man in this day and age? How patronising.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:37 am
I was interested, but then Seth Rogan’s name came up in this article. WTF?! Seth Rogan - Green Hornet. Nope. What a waste.
I’m starting to think Rogan is going to wear out his welcome pretty quick.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Seth Rogen as Green Hornet?…*shudder*
June 4th, 2008 at 12:41 am
I wouldn’t see a Green Hornet movie unless it had one of about 15 actors in the title role. You either need an actor who, when his casting is announced, elicits a “perfect!” response OR an actor who, when his casting is announced, elicits a “wow, that’s an interesting idea” response. And Seth Rogen falls into that latter group. I’d watch the dude shop for groceries or read the phone book for 2 hours so I’m definitely going to watch him fight crime in a fedora.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:49 am
i dont know which character to take seriously, seth rogan as green hornet or thor. all i know i rather watch kato stealing the show.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:54 am
Jason statham as green hornet…..yes please!
June 4th, 2008 at 2:05 am
A mention of the 1960s TV show and no comment on Bruce Lee playing Kato?
Dude…
June 4th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Misspellings of “Rogen” by those in the comments section: 4 and counting. I understand, though, the correct spelling is only printed six times in the article and links, and that article and those links are all the way up there.
June 4th, 2008 at 6:24 am
Damn, this is going to be FUCKING HORRIBLE!!!
June 4th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Wow! I really thought they were joking about this. Chow sounds like a decent fit, but so would have Jet Li.
Even so why not just get the French guys who did the short film a while back. They had an awesome visual style and the fight scenes were top notch.