Green Hornet Scoop: Seth Rogen vs. Bruce Lee!
He’s already the unlikeliest leading man in Hollywood, but are you ready for Seth Rogen: Action Hero? He is, kinda, as he preps for his tights-wearing close-up in The Green Hornet, set for summer 2010. But do his Knocked Up fans even know the old comics or ’60s TV series?
“When you say The Green Hornet to people, the first thing anyone says is, ’Hey, Bruce Lee played [the sidekick] Kato on that show,’” Rogen told us recently, while out promoting The Pineapple Express.
Everybody knows the sidekick, see, but not the hero.
To introduce the world to Kato’s second fiddle, Rogen wrote the script with his Superbad and Pineapple partner Evan Goldberg. Here’s what they cooked up…
“For years we’d actually been trying to write a movie that was kind of about a hero and his sidekick,” Rogen said. “When we heard The Green Hornet movie was up for grabs, we thought that could be the most perfect way to do this story; he’s the only hero whose sidekick is actually more known than he is.”
But can the man known for making gay jokes and insulting Matthew Fox kick ass? He’ll just have to turn all his four letter words into explosions.
“In writing The Green Hornet, we have not hit many situations where you’re like, ’You know what would make this scene better, if Kato said c–ksucker.’”
Well, not yet, at least.
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Lets look at some facts that have been overlooked or pushed under the rug by SOOO many in Hollywood.
1. The character predated Batman and the ONLY tie in was in 1966 when the same producer for the TV show did the TV Green Hornet.
2. The Character is not a superhero, he has no super powers, no super villains, he is at best a masked crime fighter. Really he is no different than any TV/Film crime fighter except he happens to have a secret identity.
3. The Character did not come from the comic world; comics only explored their version of the story after the radio show was already established. The later 90’s Comic series further explored an alternate universe of the Green Hornet world. Not too uncommon for the comic world but not congruent with the characters true origins and world.
4. The character is a hard driving young (33) successful businessman who is dedicated to fight crime in his community and wherever it occurs. NOT a lazy billionaire playboy that is pure recent media hype.
5. He is seen as a criminal in the criminal world so law enforcement is always after him. The criminals hate him because they fear him, Kato, and the Black Beauty.
6. The Green Hornet is a brilliant strategist and foils his foes in a well played out mental chess game (SEE Jason Borne or James Bond) Kato assists in strategy, weapons development and construction and muscle when needed.
5. The Green Hornet is fully capable in hand-to-hand combat in most every situation. He has a totally different style than Kato. He is in top physical condition.
6. Kato is fully competent in any situation of combat. He is so confident that his attitude comes across as smug. But make no mistake he takes crime fighting and combat very seriously. It would be a very rare occurrence if he were bested in hand-to-hand combat.
7. The TV series was canceled because the producer was not allotted enough TV time to further develop the character. ABC only allowed 30m and Dozier insisted on 60m for the second season. ABC refused so dozier canceled the series.
8. Production costs were out of control on Batman (A Huge hit) and budgets were getting tight so this was also a factor in sidelining the Green Hornet.
9. Keaton worked as Batman because he has shown he an actor that has depth and intensity. It makes no difference that he was in a comedic role prior. He is/was capable of VERY serious roles and can be very dark, which is needed for the Dark Knight. Same goes for Robin Williams as Joker, Riddler. He has proven himself in serious roles and can also be a believable villain and can also be very dark. Seth??
10. The Green Hornet does not exist in the DC or Marvel universe.
11. Seth has in the past said this will be a comedy then said it will be an action film just like Pineapple Express (due out this fall), so who knows what he/they will decide on.
The were able to hold the elements together for Spider-man, Fantastic Four, Elektra, Daredevil, Hulk, Iron Man, X-Men, Batman, Superman, Punisher, Blade so why not do the same for the Green Hornet? The Hornet is more like a Jason Borne, or a James Bond without the MI5-CIA connection. Hard fighting, mental strategy game, interesting gadget technology.
Anything less that what the character is or was created to be is just a slap in the face to all of fandom and aficionados of the genre. People do not want something different they want something familiar but updated to take advantage of the wonderful film technology we have today.
Look for inspiring films to model off of like:
1. Ronin
2. Blade (especially the first 10 minutes)
3. The Professional (especially the first 10 minutes)
4. Casino Royal (especially the first 10 minutes)
5. The Usual Suspects
6. Smokin Aces (the plot twist)
7. The Bourne films
Filmgoers want to leave the film after paying their $10 saying “…damn that was awesome!” Not “Damn I could have blown that $10 bucks elsewhere and been happier.”
Fans are not looking for another Rush Hour film, they did that and it was fine for what it was.
Impress us Seth! Don’t rip us off!