It’s been one bumpy ride for The Green Hornet, aka Britt Reid, a newspaper publisher who dons a mask by night and fights crime with his faithful (and way more badass) wheelman Kato by his side. Beginning as a radio show in the 1930’s (originating at KXYZ, the same Detroit station which kicked off The Lone Ranger, for those fond of irrelevant trivia), The Green Hornet morhped into a film serial, a 1960’s TV series famous for introducing America to Bruce Lee (as Kato), and finally a major motion picture directed by Michel Gondry, starring Seth Rogen as the Hornet, Jay Chou as Kato and Inglourious Basterds‘s Oscar winner Christophe Waltz as bad-guy Chudnofsky.
Snarky bloggers harped on early footage screened at Comic-Con International, and the film seemed like deadweight, a perception not helped by the January 14th, 2011 release date. The January-April doldrums have traditionally been the place studios dump movies to die, but with the success of Shutter Island, which was pushed to a February 2010 release from it’s original, late-2009 opening, it seems the positioning of The Green Hornet might be just right.
Now, with the film coming off a successful Tuesday night screening, Sony seems to be thinking about a sequel. The movie scored much higher than executives had expected, with a strong indication that moviegoers will give the picture legs. After plenty of delays – rumors abound that the 3D conversion masked bigger problems – Sony could have an intriguing franchise on their hands. [Movieweb]
Seth Rogen in particular seems an odd (if “hip” and offbeat) choice for a role that George Clooney had signed on to play when the project was caught in development hell at Universal. The only official trailer we’ve seen is actually a lot of fun (and has Cameron Diaz playing…some blonde chick), but Rogen is still playing Seth Rogen. Chou and Waltz both look cool, though. If Sony’s faith in the movie pans out, we might have a superhero franchise that’s a cocky alternative to the increasingly self-righteous Marvel and DC mainstream (I’m talking to you, Superman Returns, The Dark Knight and X-Men Origins: Wolverine).
Will The Green Hornet spawn a franchise worthy of its roots?