Green Hornet Tagged Articles at Cinematical

No, that's not Seth Rogen looking like someone who decided at the last minute to be the Riddler for Halloween. It's presumably his stuntman. But it is our first good look at Rogen's costume for The Green Hornet, which has started shooting in Los Angeles. The picture is from a short video posted at Splash News Online, filmed paparazzi-style from behind the barricades where a stunt sequence was being shot. There's an explosion, and a bulldozer is dropped on a car, so that's pretty exciting.

Michel Gondry is directing the film, which is scheduled for a December 2010 release, and the screenplay is by Rogen and his old writing buddy Evan Goldberg. Jay Chou plays Kato, the Hornet's butler and chauffeur; Cameron Diaz plays a love interest; Christoph Waltz (who you loved in Inglourious Basterds) plays a villain; and Edward James Olmos plays a newspaper reporter trying to unmask the Hornet (because for sure you can't tell who a guy really is when he's wearing a mask that covers his eyes).

The big question, though: What do we think of the costume? Do hardcore Green Hornet fans -- I assume there are hardcore Green Hornet fans -- approve? Is this the look of a legitimate crime fighter?

On Friday, Spoiler TV posted casting call information for the role of Kato in The Green Hornet, Seth Rogen's long-struggling feature based on the iconic radio and television hero. Prior to the call, Kung Fu Hustle star, writer and director Stephen Chow was attached to play the role, and it would have been one immaculately suited for the longtime fan of Bruce Lee, who originated the role on TV. But now it appears that Chow has another feature he would like to do, and the ongoing scheduling problems the film has suffered appear to have resulted in him bowing out of the project. Thankfully, the filmmakers are maintaining only the highest and most specific standards in their search for a replacement:

"[KATO] ALL ASIAN ETHNICITIES, Male, 20's - early 40's. Brit Reid's manservant/chauffeur by day and Green Hornet's martial arts-skilled sidekick by night. Actor doesn't have to have Martial Arts experience."

According to the IMDB, Chow has moved on to CJ7 2, the sequel to his answer to E.T., which was released in 2007 (and, in the interest of full disclosure, a film for which I contributed the quote "a sweet, funny family fantasy film"). Meanwhile, Rogen is without his ass-kicking sidekick, begging the question: who do you think they should cast as Kato? Suffice it to say there are countless working Asian and Asian-American actors who could handle the role's physical demands, but given what one presumes will be a slightly more comedic bent to the characters' mythology, who would you suggest strap on Kato's black mask and share the screen with Rogen's hirsute Hornet?

Warner Brothers has made an interesting move with regards to The Green Lantern (which Casino Royale's Martin Campbell is rumored to be directing) as they've announced a December 17, 2010 release date for the superhero flick. No, this isn't the Green Hornet (which we wrote about earlier telling you of Michel Gondry's involvement) -- this is the other green hero, Green Lantern. It'll be interesting to see how well a superhero movie does during the winter months [cough] Spirit [cough], and while this one is kinda flying under the radar, I'm a fan of Green Lantern and I'm real curious to see what they do with it.

In other Warner Bros. release date news, they seem to have pushed Sherlock Holmes (starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law) to a December 25, 2009 release -- making this the studio's big Christmas Day movie. The film was previously supposed to open on November 13. Additionally, the final Harry Potter film (part 2 of the Deathly Hallows)has scheduled a release date of July 15, 2011. And guess what else is opening that weekend -- um, just a little flick called The Avengers. Could you imagine Potter squaring off against Marvel's Avengers? How cool would that box office battle be?

Other release dates announced by Warners:
Jonah Hex - August 6, 2010
Christopher Nolan's Inception - July 16, 2010
Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch- October 8, 2010
Clash of the Titans - March 26th, 2010

Which of these projects brings you the most excitement?

[via ERC]

It is indeed happening. Entertainment Weekly has reported that Seth Rogen's Green Hornet movie has the go-ahead, even down to its release date: June 25th, 2010.

Rogen is still set to star as Britt Reid, the bored newspaper publisher by day, crimefighter by night. He is also still writing the script with his partner, Evan Goldberg. But no director has yet been named, nor has Kato been cast. (If you remember, Rogen favors Stephen Chow. Sounds like he still does.)

Rogen's attachment to the project was reported a year ago, but given how many Green Hornet movies have fallen apart, I don't think anyone was holding their breath.
Were they? I mean, this was once a property attached to everyone from George Clooney to Jake Gyllenhaal. Kevin Smith spent years trying to develop it. Who knew Rogen would be the one to finally do it?

This news comes on the heels of CHUD's brief chat with Rogen, where he was saying the film still hadn't been green lit. He discussed the tone they were trying to set with the film -- it isn't going to be bumbling humor, and it will feature some serious action. Rogen and Goldberg are hoping the comedy comes from the unconventional relationship between the Hornet and Kato. Perhaps that will soothe the doubts of our readers, who were quite furious when the news broke. Have you become more reconciled to it, or are you still wishing for what could have been?

Since today is St. Patrick's Day, and since it's practically a law to wear green on St. Patty's Day, we figured why not come up with a list of characters (most of which appear in movies, or have movies being made about them) who wear green and ask you which one is your favorite. This one was a fun list to create -- truth be told, I went back and forth with Monika over IM for about a half hour tossing out a number of characters. To coincide with the recently-released trailer, the first character we have to name is The Incredible Hulk. He's big, he's nasty, he kicks a whole lot of ass ... and he's green! Other green monsters? How about Frankenstein and Mrs. Frankenstein. Back to green comic book characters, we also have Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Green Goblin and Poison Ivy. Additionally, the upcoming spoof flick Superhero Movie also features a lead character called Dragonfly who -- you guessed it -- wears green. (I'm sure I'm forgetting some random green-wearing comic book characters, so feel free to chime in down below.)

Moving away from the comics, we have my favorite green character -- Kermit the Frog. He's perhaps the nicest green character there is; I mean, even when Kermit gets mad, he still sounds funny ... kinda like Jerry Seinfeld (who I've never seen wear anything green). My second favorite? C'mon ... Yoda! Moving across the spectrum, villains can also wear green -- like Leprechaun (horror version), the Wicked Witch of the West or that darn Grinch who stole Christmas. And finally, how can I leave out the lovable green Ogre ... Shrek! Green is a popular color, eh?

Since there's way too many characters for an official poll, feel free to tell us who your favorite green folks are in the comments below ... and definitely let me know who we forgot. Happy St. Patty's Day!

I know a lot of you out there in Cinematical readerland are not big fans of View Askew filmmaker Kevin Smith. And while I understand where you are coming from and I don't blame you at all, I generally disagree with you on this one. I dig the guy and his work, and I'm glad to see him returning to Clerks. Sure, he can sound a bit abrasive and churlish from time to time, but he far more often sounds genuine, warm, and entertaining ... at least, when he is not responding to internet critics. I challenge anyone to listen to the commentary tracks on the Askew films and still dislike Kevin Smith. But hey, part of the glory of movies is we all have our different tastes and can violently disagree with each other via the internet (HINT: this is my incredibly subtle way of suggesting you use the comment feature at the bottom of this post).

In a recent interview with SuperheroHype, Kevin Smith finally closed the door tight on the persistent Green Hornet movie rumors. Yes, he said he was done with the project months ago, but rumors continued to insist he was merely pushing it back, not letting it go. Smith, however, again acknowledged his inability to properly handle such an action intensive flick. He likes what he does, he is good at what he does, and he doesn't want to ruin a Superhero flick because it isn't his strength. Said Smith: "I like to tell stories about people sitting around and talking to each other and what not. And that's really what I'm kind of good at and most people would argue that I'm not even that good at that to begin with. So the notion of doing Green Hornet is just not appealing to me."

In their wide-ranging coverage of New York's enormous Comic Con, the always interesting folks over at CBR provide us with some very good coverage of a Q and A session with one of the crown princes of geek film, Kevin Smith. Smith, who was a guest of honor at the weekend, dressed in his Silent Bob look and fielded questions for over two hours, with his typical mix of humor, candor, and self-deprecation. We've already heard what he had to say about why he backed down on the Green Hornet project ("It probably would have just been him and Kato standing around the whole movie talking about getting laid"), and continued by intoning the inherent problems in trusting IMDB, which still had Smith connected to the film. Smith built on that by suggesting that while he loves comic book movies, he just doesn't think he has the talent required to pull it off.

Smith also (again) took hits for his failure to complete two Marvel comic projects in any sort of timely manner. He further noted that he is no longer attached to any DC Comics projects that had been previously connected with his name, quipping “I’ve decided, based on my inability to produce a script on time, that I should never go near a comic book again. I’m probably even going to screw up reading them at some point in the future.”

When asked about start-up financing, Smith first suggested selling sexual favors, and then told the story of how he had lied about his job and income to several credit card companies to help finance Clerks, his breakthrough indie film. To read the rest of CBR's coverage on the interview, click here.

Kevin Smith recently confirmed what the rest of us already knew- the man has removed himself from involvement with two films he had previously been working on - a sequel/prequel to Chevy Chase's Fletch movies (based originally on novels) and the comic book film Green Hornet. Smith acknowledged that he has an unfortunate habit of annoucing projects and not always delivering, but he offers some explanation for his recent mishaps. Everyone knows the Kevin Smith versus Harvey Weinstein battle over the role of Fletch, as Smith has spent five years trying to sell the studio on Jason Lee. Smith thought that Lee's recent rise to stardom on the back of his television program My Name is Earl might lend weight to his long time argument that Lee was an underappricated talent, but no dice. Smith's removal from this project has been widely understood for awhile now, you can check out an early rumor watch covered right here at Cinematical from when the story started breaking.

As for the Green Hornet, Smith dropped it when he realised what most of America was already rather certain of - the man can't/doesn't direct action. Smith's own description of a Green Hornet directed by him is "Green Hornet and Kato leaning against the Black Beauty -- the amazing supercar and home arsenal that can do almost anything and just leaning against it talking about sex....' And Kato'd be like 'I think there's some trouble over there.' And Green Hornet's like, 'Yeah, let's check it out.' They both just walk off camera. We still hold on the car. Then from off camera you hear [He mimics the sounds of a comic fight]. Then they walk back in and dust themselves off." Funny? Yes. Super Hero movie gold? Probably not. Smith did, however, complete a script that he says he was very pleased with, and handed it in - but he has no idea what, if anything, will become of it.

I think these were probably wise career moves on the part of Kevin Smith. Okay, I'm certain the Green Hornet decision was; he may have been able to pull off a decent Fletch film, but frankly I don't think a new installment in that franchise is necessary to begin with. Smith has learned the hard way that he is a niche director, and for now, at least, he seems to be sticking to that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not insulting the man - in fact, I think I'm among the short list of media journalists who really dig the dude's work - I just think he has wisely realized that his talents are best suited towards a particular style of film.