GREEN HORNET Officially Green Lit
EW.com's Hollywood Insider blog is announcing that Sony is officially giving the green light to Seth Rogen's take on the pulp hero, Green Hornet.This is news to me, because I thought it was already a done deal. I guess this means that it really really is going to happen this time.
Many of you may remember that Kevin Smith was at one time going to helm this flick, but dropped out of consideration.
Rogen is co-writing the film with his longtime friend and Superbad co-scribe, Evan Goldberg. Rogen will also play the title character, a newspaper magnate named Britt Reid who fights crime at night with the help of his driver, Kato.
No director has been announce yet, but expect word on that soon if the film is expected to meet its planned June 25, 2010 release date.
Labels: Comics And Film, In Development, Pulps to Film, TV To Film
posted by William Gatevackes at
6/04/2008
2 Comments:
Lets look at some facts that have been overlooked or pushed under the rug by SOOO many here and in Hollywood.
1. The character predated Batman and the ONLY tie in was in 1966 when the same producer for the TV show did the TV Green Hornet.
2. The Character is not a superhero, he has no super powers, no super villains, he is at best a masked crime fighter. Really he is no different than any TV/Film crime fighter except he happens to have a secret identity.
3. The Character did not come from the comic world; comics only explored their version of the story after the radio show was already established. The later 90's Comic series further explored an alternate universe of the Green Hornet world. Not too uncommon for the comic world but not congruent with the characters true origins and world.
4. The character is a hard driving young (33) successful businessman who is dedicated to fight crime in his community and wherever it occurs. NOT a lazy billionaire playboy that is pure recent media hype.
5. He is seen as a criminal in the criminal world so law enforcement is always after him. The criminals hate him because they fear him, Kato, and the Black Beauty.
6. The Green Hornet is a brilliant strategist and foils his foes in a well played out mental chess game (SEE Jason Borne or James Bond) Kato assists in strategy, weapons development and construction and muscle when needed.
5. The Green Hornet is fully capable in hand-to-hand combat in most every situation. He has a totally different style than Kato. He is in top physical condition.
6. Kato is fully competent in any situation of combat. He is so confident that his attitude comes across as smug. But make no mistake he takes crime fighting and combat very seriously. It would be a very rare occurrence if he were bested in hand-to-hand combat.
7. The TV series was canceled because the producer was not allotted enough TV time to further develop the character. ABC only allowed 30m and Dozier insisted on 60m for the second season. ABC refused so dozier canceled the series.
8. Production costs were out of control on Batman (A Huge hit) and budgets were getting tight so this was also a factor in sidelining the Green Hornet.
9. Keaton worked as Batman because he has shown he an actor that has depth and intensity. It makes no difference that he was in a comedic role prior. He is/was capable of VERY serious roles and can be very dark, which is needed for the Dark Knight. Same goes for Robin Williams as Joker, Riddler. He has proven himself in serious roles and can also be a believable villain and can also be very dark. Seth??
10. The Green Hornet does not exist in the DC or Marvel universe.
11. Seth has in the past said this will be a comedy then said it will be an action film just like Pineapple Express (due out this fall), so who knows what he/they will decide on.
The were able to hold the elements together for Spider-man, Fantastic Four, Elektra, Daredevil, Hulk, Iron Man, X-Men, Batman, Superman, Punisher, Blade so why not do the same for the Green Hornet? The Hornet is more like a Jason Borne, or a James Bond without the MI5-CIA connection. Hard fighting, mental strategy game, interesting gadget technology.
Anything less that what the character is or was created to be is just a slap in the face to all of fandom and aficionados of the genre. People do not want something different they want something familiar but updated to take advantage of the wonderful film technology we have today.
Filmgoers want to leave the film after paying their $10 saying “…damn that was awesome!” Not “Damn I could have blown that $10 bucks elsewhere and been happier.”
Fans are not looking for another Rush Hour film, they did that and it was fine for what it was.
Impress us Seth! Don’t rip us off!
Wow, anonymous. You are a one big Green Hornet fan. I appreciate your post and the knowledge you brought to the subject. Please allow me to address some of your points.
1. This is true. He actually had more in common with the Lone Ranger than Batman. They were both created by the same man and I remember hearing somewhere that they hinted that the Green Hornet was a relative of the Lone Ranger. I don't know if that's true, but it would be cool if it was.
2. I see your point, but I consider anybody who dons a mask and fights crime a superhero. But that's just me. That discussion could go on for days and nobody would really be right or wrong.
3. True. I apologize for implying that he came from the pulps. He has pulp hero characteristics (in my eyes at least), but definitely started in the radio.
4. He has been described as a newspaper magnate, which leads me to believe that he definitely earned his money through hard work. Successful newspapers don't spring up without a lot of effort!
5. This is an interesting aspect to the character. They try to add this to the Batman comics and movies from time to time.
6. Cool. I did not know that.
The 2nd 5 & the 2nd 6. It appears these qualities make the pair a great team!
7. & 8. Hollywood is rife with tales like these. It seems like there is a constant battle between art and commerce.
9. Seth Rogen has done only comedies, but don't forget, Michael Keaton has only one drama under his belt before Batman. And that turned out OK.
10. This is true.
11. As I recall,in the quote I heard about from Seth Rogen about Green Hornet being a serious action film, he seemed pretty emphatic about it.
Let's face it. Nothing adapted from another medium is ever kept exactly the same. The best we can hope for is that they keep true to the spirit of the original work. And that the end result is a good movie.
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