So they've been talking about a Green Hornet movie for years, but the project has been bounced from studio to studio, and attached to various directors, including Kevin Smith at one point. For those unfamiliar with the character, Green Hornet followed the adventures of Britt Reid, a bored playboy who inherits his father's crusading newspaper, the Daily Sentinel. By night he's a masked hero, fighting crime with his martial arts expert sidekick/chauffeur Kato. While the 1966 ABC series was short lived, and I can't profess to ever being a fan, it's probably best remembered as the show that introduced American audiences to Bruce Lee, who played Kato. As I've written here before, I'm interested in seeing who they get to play Kato, if they ever actually get around to making the movie. And he better be badass.
Well, it was recently announced that Seth Rogen, that dude from Knocked Up, and his writing partner Evan Goldberg, are going to write and executive-produce The Green Hornet for Columbia Pictures: Rogen to pen "Hornet," don hero's mask. Rogen is also attached to star as the Green Hornet. What the...? Not the first, second, third through 100th person I would've thought of for the role, but it's certainly interesting. Rogen and Goldberg are the writing team responsible for the comedy Superbad, which opens in theaters on Friday. I've seen it, and it's hilarious. But with these two now involved, I can't imagine Green Hornet being anything but a comedy, or at least a superhero movie with some heavy comic undertones. I'm not saying it won't work... it's just different.
But back to the original question, the point we care about: who will play Kato? Well, Rogen apparently wants none other than Kung Fu Hustle star/director Stephen Chow for the role. Don't know how close this is to being reality, but I love it—especially if they're going with the comedic route. That's badass in a totally different way.
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