jay chou is kato in the green hornet

It's official. We have a Kato. After an exhaustive worldwide search, Sony Pictures has announced that Taiwanese star Jay Chou hsa been cast in the highly coveted role of Kato in The Green Hornet, starring Seth Rogen and directed by Michel Gondry: Taiwan's Jay Chou cast as Kato in "Green Hornet."

The rumor started circulating earlier this week, but I was hesitant to post anything since it originated from the blog of "an old friend" of Stephen Chow -- not exactly The Hollywood Reporter. And we all know how rumors can go. But if it's on Sony's Twitter, it must be official.

Jay Chou is best known in Asia as a musician, though he's also made his mark in recent years as an actor and director. He made his acting debut in 2005's Initial D, for which he won Best Newcomer Actor at the Golden Horse Awards, and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in Curse of the Golden Flower.

So... will Jay Chou make a good Kato? Will he be able to hold his own opposite the likes of Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz and Nicolas Cage? I don't know enough about the guy to tell. But given what we know about the character, this news is sort of disappointing. I was really hoping they'd go for an American actor.

At this point, it feels like 37 people have been up for the role of Kato, either officially or just rumored, with a new one added in the mix on a weekly basis. But with production starting next month, I'm guessing this one is going to stick. Let's hope they've got the right man for the role.