There was internet tug of war of sorts when there was a report from Sundance saying The Green Hornet feature might not take the flight into production this year, but then Seth Rogen kindly let us know that everything was going to plan.

Now a big push forward for this project has manifested itself via tons of separate updates. My first finding of the news came from the official Sony Pictures Twitter as well as film industry periodical Production Weekly. Variety even went and tossed up this pitiful blurb (which may be expanded by the time you click) that confirms director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Be Kind Rewind) will helm The Green Hornet starring Seth Rogen. Gondry was said to be attached to a Green Hornet project back in the 90's with George Clooney and Jason Scott Lee set to star and Robocop writer Edward Neumeier scripting. Now it looks like the project has made its way back into his hands.

This film now has my full attention. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of my favorite films, and while Be Kind Rewind was sloppy and slow I love how much of a labor of love it was for Gondry (the Sweded films were just magical). His style is charming, full of passion, and simply fresh in a medium becoming incresingly formulaic. I can't wait to see his take on an action film such as this.

Labels: Green Hornet, Michel Gondry, Seth Rogen

Over the weekend we snagged a story from Drew McWeeny over at HitFix regarding some negative talk at Sundance about Seth Rogen's upcoming adaptation of Green Hornet getting off the ground. Apparently Seth Rogen wasn't too happy with these reports, and he got in contact with Drew via e-mail to settle the score.

I'm betting Rogen was pissed and maybe even laid into Drew a bit since the only excerpt from this e-mail used is in regards to all the people who are hard at work on Green Hornet and I'm sure that this created a stir among the production team as to whether or not they were going to have jobs. In the e-mail Rogen comments:

"'The Green Hornet' has many people working for it, including production designers, costume designers and many conceptual artists, office staff, etc. [The studio heads] have every intention on making it, and assuming we're able to hire a new director in the upcoming weeks, which seems like a distinct possibility, it should still hit the release date."

Well I'm glad Seth was nice enough to keep everyone in the loop, and it's good to hear that we'll at least get a chance to see how this project turns out. Other good news includes a report over at Ain't It Cool (ironically enough the former stomping grounds of Drew McWeeny aka Moriarity) that while Stephen Chow is no longer directing he is definitely still in for portraying the Hornet's faithful sidekick Kato. Stay tuned for any further developments as they come along.

Labels: Green Hornet, Seth Rogen, Stephen Chow

Ever since the announcement of a revival of The Green Hornet in a new feature length film starring Seth Rogen and directed by Stephen Chow (who would also be playing Kato, the sidekick made famous by Bruce Lee), not much hype about the project had been heard. Then some sad news took away any anticipation certain people may have had when Stephen Chow dropped out of the director's chair. Well it looks like things aren't getting any better with this little insider info straight from whispers at the Sundance Film Festival looked into by HitFix.

Drew McWeeny (yes that's his real name) writes, "Ever since Stephen Chow started to waffle about his participation in the film, I've been hearing rumors that there were major hesitations at Sony. Then at Sundance, I heard several people say that the film was off completely. I spoke this afternoon with a source close to the film, and while they didn't call it completely dead, they did say it is 'highly unlikely' that the film will shoot in 2009 at all."

While I'm not exactly disappointed, it's a bit disheartening to hear this project might put on the backburner. I don't have any nostalgic memories attached to the Green Hornet (and I would contend that not many of today's film bloggers do), but I thought this would be an interesting collaboration of comedy and action (and an excuse for some kind of cool update of the awesome Green Hornet theme). After seeing Rogen take on the action comedy in Pineapple Express I was at least somewhat interested in how this one would turn out. Oh well, I'm sure Rogen has plenty of upcoming projects to keep him busy. You guys have anything to say on the matter?

Labels: Green Hornet, Kato, Seth Rogen, Stephen Chow