Seriously, I’ve heard of some doomed productions in my day, but The Green Hornet could well make a movie about their own doomed production. They’ve been stuck in development hell, played musical actors with their Kato, and then the low blow came when a car crash happened on set.
At least, until today…when someone found a bomb on the set.
Now, I’ve heard of movies being CALLED bombs before, but actually finding one? That wasn’t supposed to be there? Now I’ve heard everything! So on top of all this, the Los Angeles bomb squad comes out and blows the thing up with their bomb disposal robot.
While I’m shocked that someone would put a bomb on a film set, I have to wonder, offhandedly, if maybe they got some stock footage out of the deal. Either way, though, this is the strangest production shoot I’ve heard of in quite some time.
If you saw Inglourious Basterds, then you understand why everyone in Hollywood is raving about Christoph Waltz performance as the Nazi colonel, which he won the best actor award at Cannes.
So it’s no surprise that Waltz is set to play the villain in Columbia Pictures’ action-comedy The Green Hornet. The Austrian actor is stepping in where Nicolas Cage stepped out last week when a contract didn’t materialize as need to maintain the original casting choice.
Still, Waltz is an excellent choice for this role because he’ll add a refreshing touch to the superhero story. He will play Chudnofsky, a Los Angeles crime boss who tries to bring together the city’s various gangs in order to form a supermafia.
Well, in retrospect, it’s the kind of thing we should have seen coming. Considering the Smurfs were looking to take on Green Hornet AND the Yogi Bear movie in the upcoming holiday movie season, it really doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the powers that be over at Sony decided they weren’t even going to bother.
That’s right, folks, the Smurfs movie has been officially pushed back, back, WAY back….all the way back to 2011.
Here’s the strange part, though…rather than falling back to, say, March 2011, it’s apparently going to take a run at the summer movie season of 2011 instead. Now, I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t think the Smurfs have the kind of firepower necessary to take a summer movie weekend by storm unless everyone else manages to stay home for a weekend.
Well, here’s hoping for the best for the Smurfs, and that neither Gargamel nor bad reviews will keep them away from success.
Nicolas Cage cut himself loose from The Green Hornet.
Last July before Comic-con 2009 we mentioned Cage was to play the villain in Columbia’s action movie, being directed by Michel Gondry. THR reports the actor and the studio never came to terms on a deal.
The report makes sense because Cage is set to star in two movies back to back: The Hungry Rabbit Jumps and Drive Angry. I couldn’t fathom how he was going to fit the Hornet in the production schedule.
Principal photograph of the Hornetbegan last week with Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz and Jay Chou on the set in Los Angeles.
It’s too early to tell yet if Nicolas Cage will star in TheGreen Hornet, but Columbia Pictures is negotiating with Nicolas Cage to play the gangster villain. Cage can do this part. I’ve always seen him as a villain since his Oscar winning performance in Leaving Las Vegas. Plus, some of you may know that we will see Cage’s wicked streak in The Bad Lieutenant, which finished shooting and is now in post-production.
Not only is Cage negotiating with the studio but Cameron Diaz is also negotiating to play a reporter and love interest in the Michel Gondry-directed movie that stars Seth Rogen as the masked crime fighter. I am still not comfortable with Rogen, but that could change as I see more of the movie.
Speaking of seeing more of the movie, production is at full throttle with a fall start date, even though the studio still needs to replace Stephen Chow, Green Hornet’s sidekick Kato.
From Entertainment Weekly comes word that Cameron Diaz has been offered and is apparently in early talks to take on the female lead role in Green Hornet, opposite Seth Rogen.
The site’s sources say that while a deal is yet to be sealed, talks are continuing and that we might get an announcement quite soon. The actress’s reps denied to comment on the matter.
Written by Seth Rogen himself along with writing partner Evan Goldberg, the film will follow the titular masked hero. It is based on the famous ‘60s television series, ‘40s short films and ‘30s radio serials.
Michael Gondry is set to direct the film which has a release date of July 9, 2010.
Seth Rogen attended the SXSW Film Festival to premiere his new comedy Observe and Report, but more importantly he confirmed that “we have no 100% official Kato at this point.”
Up until now, Chinese filmmaker Stephen Chow (Kung-fu Hustle) had been pretty much locked for the role of Green Hornet’s sidekick, despite his stepping aside as the film’s director a few months back. Michael Gondry had taken on the reigns of the project.
Rogen’s statement does leave the door open for Chow to still play the part, which I hope he will.
Guess what – Sony does not like Seth Rogen! The actor’s new film based on the Green Hornet radio and ‘60s television property looks to be on the verge of collapse again, as Sony Pictures is nervous about developing it. Apparently, this stems from the fact that actor/director Stephen Chow has not shown much interest in the project.
HitFix’s Drew McWeeny has more on the story: “At Sundance, I heard several people say that the film was off completely. I spoke this afternoon with a source close to the film, and while they didn’t call it completely dead, they did say it is “highly unlikely” that the film will shoot in 2009 at all.”
Ah well… maybe we’ll see Rogen prancing around as the Hornet some day, but not that soon.
The Green Hornet is set to be directed by Stephen Chow, who will also star as the masked manservant Kato. Seth Rogen is aboard as the mask crime fighter — Green Hornet.
The movie bows June 25, 2010.
I am very excited about The Green Hornet finally coming to the big screen. I’ve know about the project for quit some time while it’s been in development.
Kato was originally played by Bruce Lee on television.
And it’s not the early print, either.
If you saw 
Well, in retrospect, it’s the kind of thing we should have seen coming. Considering the 
From Entertainment Weekly comes 
Seth Rogen attended the SXSW Film Festival to premiere his new comedy Observe and Report, but more importantly he 
Guess what – Sony does not like Seth Rogen! The actor’s new film based on the Green Hornet radio and ‘60s television property looks to be on the verge of collapse again, as Sony Pictures is nervous about developing it. Apparently, this stems from the fact that actor/director Stephen Chow has not shown much interest in the project.