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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Film / Nerd On Again, Off Again, On Again

Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 2:16 PM

So Seth Rogen has had this Green Hornet movie ready to go for quite some time now. He insists he's going to make it a straight-forward superhero movie. Stephen Chow was supposed to star as Kato and direct the thing, and that sounded pretty cool: Chow would probably make the Green Hornet into a funny action movie. But then Chow fell off the project and I lost interest, figuring it would wind up in the clutches of whoever directed Starsky and Hutch or some shit. But apparently, Michel Gondry is now set to direct the Green Hornet. I'm suddenly very interested again.

I know that some Green Hornet fans—yes, there are some—are upset that the movie won't be made completely straight. They want something more like this French fan film:

But come on. It's about a guy who calls himself the Green Hornet when he fights crime. The world doesn't need another serious martial-arts superhero movie; I'm excited to see what Gondry can do with the idea.

Comments (10) RSS

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At least they aren't remaking Star Trek... Oh wait, they are...

Posted by Just Me on February 24, 2009 at 2:34 PM

BTW, Flight of the Conchords two weeks ago was directed by Gondry. Episode, um, 5? "Unnatural Love." By far the strongest of the season.

Posted by mike on February 24, 2009 at 2:37 PM

I don't automatically love everything Gondry does, but his sense of style is wonderful. Some of his music videos (Cibo Matto's "Sugar Water" and Kylie Minogue's "Welcome to my world") are just astonishing.

Posted by Lee on February 24, 2009 at 2:43 PM

Can Charlie Kaufman write the screenplay please?

Posted by Levislade on February 24, 2009 at 2:52 PM

I suspect it will do for Rogen's career what The Shadow did for Alec Baldwin's.

Posted by SF in SF on February 24, 2009 at 3:14 PM

Will we get to see Seth Rogen in tights? Maybe for extended periods of time? Please say yes.

Posted by David Schmader on February 24, 2009 at 3:16 PM

Dave has interesting taste in men. I guess that's part of why we love him.

I'm having a Van Williams flashback. He was The Hornet on TV along with Bruce Lee as Cato (for those three of you who didn't know). The Green Hornet was pretty much the capstone of his career. He didn't do much after that. But oh boy, was he ever pretty. And earlier in Surfside 6? I watched it in reruns just for the episodes where he was wearing swimming trunks.

With all the remakes and rehashed stories I sometimes worry that we've run out of ideas.

Posted by Bauhaus on February 24, 2009 at 3:56 PM

I love the 60's television version for what is was, but the Green Hornet is a pretty lame character. He's the Lone Ranger's freakin' NEWPHEW fer chrissake! And a gun loaded with "knockout gas"? C'mon.

Posted by Dougsf on February 24, 2009 at 4:04 PM

@6 Seems unlikely Schmader, the Green Hornet is a dapperly dressed dude in 3-piece suits-- he's not so much into the tights.

And Paul, I think your statement is a bit off-- the world is always suffering from a deficit of seriously good martial arts movies, with or without superheroes. Hiring Yuen Woo Ping to choreograph a few scenes doesn't make up for actors who throw karate chops that would embarrass Frank Sinatra, and directors who don't know how to frame a good punch.

That being said, I would never in my life expect Seth Rogen to be the one to deliver on this unfulfilled promise.

Posted by christopher h on February 24, 2009 at 6:16 PM

Gondry is good when he isn't allowed to write the script. Science of Sleep was horrible.

Posted by Nic on February 24, 2009 at 6:29 PM