Comic-Con
2007:
There's A New Green Hornet In Town...
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| What
if this guy fought crime in your city? |
Update,
7/28/07: At last night's Comic-Con screening of
Rogen's Superbad, a fan asked if he was really doing The
Green Hornet. With no trace of irony, Rogen confirmed that
yes, he is doing the project, and that he intends to make
it a serious action film, not a comedy as many have feared.
(That's a paraphrase. I really doubt he cares what we feared.
But thanks anyway for committing to do this right.)
Variety
announced this morning that Columbia finally believes they've
got the right man for the job of The Green Hornet.
Writer/actor Seth Rogen has been tapped, along with his
partner Evan Goldberg to finally steer the character to
the big screen. At this time, he's writing and executive
producing, but Variety makes it plain that Columbia intends
for Rogen to star as well.
It's
been a long and torturous road for Britt Reid, millionaire
newspaper publisher and nephew of The Lone Ranger. (Though,
shhhhhh, Uncle Ranger is owned by a different company and
being produced by Disney.)
Both Universal Studios and Miramax have tried to produce
a Green Hornet movie, attaching George Clooney,
Mark Wahlberg and recently Jake Gyllenhaal to star at various
times. A couple of years ago, Harvey Weinstein convinced
Kevin Smith to write and direct a version, to much sound
and fury.
Back
in March, Producer Neal H. Moritz brought it over to Sony,
and this is the result.
It's
hard to know what to make of the announcement. No one can
contest that Rogen has talent as a writer. Despite his presence
in such fanboy-friendly comedies as The 40-Year-Old
Virgin and Knocked Up, his actual knowledge
and interest in genre stuff has always seemed more mocking
than truly knowing the material. If his appearance in the
upcoming film Fanboys is any indication, we're
still more on the mocking side.
Then
again, if he stars as Britt Reid, how could this be a serious
film? I'm all for the doughy action hero, but are we ready
for a doughy superhero?
Allegedly,
Rogen will appear next week at Comic-Con to talk about the
project, a further step than any studio has taken with it
in years past. So it's real. He's serious about doing it,
even if it won't be serious. And now we really have to be
at the Sony panel.
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