Actor/filmmaker Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer, CJ7) has been hired to direct Columbia Pictures’ take on the classic masked-crusader franchise The Green Hornet. He will also star as Kato, the Kung Fu-fighting valet of the title crime fighter. Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express, Knocked Up) has slimmed down to play action man Brit Reid, and has also penned the screenplay with exec producer Evan Goldberg. The pic is slated for release on June 25, 2010.
From Lone Ranger creators Fran Striker and George Trendle, The Green Hornet debuted as a radio serial in 1936 and eventually made its way to comics, television and film. The stories followed the adventures of Brit Reid, a millionaire publisher who dons a mask to fight crime with the help of his Asian valet, Kato.
The characters were first portrayed in serials by Gordon Jones and Keye Luke, who was best known as ‘No. 1 Son’ in the Charlie Chan films. Martial arts legend Bruce Lee portrayed Kato alongside Van Williams as Reid in 26 episodes of the 1966 television incarnation. Several of the episodes were spliced together and released as a feature in 1974, but more recent attempts to bring the property to the big screen have been foiled. Universal had its eye on the franchise for a while and Clerks director Kevin Smith was at one time developing a script for Miramax.
Neal H. Moritz is producing the film through his Sony-based production company, Original Film. The producer of Evan Almighty, Click and Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift developed the project with Rogan. The teaming of Chow and Rogan indicates that the film will take a more comical approach to the subject matter. As a reader once commented on our site, the ’60s Green Hornet series offered a less campy brand of action than its more successful counterpart, Batman. Now the roles seem to be reversing as Batman goes very dark and serious and Green Hornet goes the way of goofy fun.
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