It’s been close to a year since Sony handed the Green Hornet franchise over to Seth Rogen and his Superbad/Pineapple Express co-writer Evan Goldberg, but we haven’t heard much on the duo’s plans for the character since Comic Con. According to Rogen, with whom Devin chatted at length today (on the set of Jody Hill’s Observe and Report), this is partially because the project hasn’t been greenlit just yet.
That said, Rogen and Goldberg have been hard at work hammering out a draft and figuring out what kind of tone they’d like to strike. Their options boil down to this: were they writing Kato as a Jet Li-type asskicker or a more comedic (but still formidable) Stephen Chow type. It sounded like Rogen and Goldberg were leaning toward Chow last year, and, happily, that hasn’t changed: they definitely want some Chow. What they don’t want, however, is a bumbling Green Hornet; preferably, the film’s comedy would come out of a less traditional take on the hero/sidekick relationship. In Rogen’s own words, “No movie has done this since Batman and Robin.”
Rogen also stressed that they’re writing “serious” action – and while they’re not scripting with a budget in mind, he sees it as a $70 million – $100 million production. As for when this might go before cameras, Rogen is thinking after the Untitled Judd Apatow Un-Dramedy (i.e. sometime in 2009).
Devin will have quotes tomorrow, but he did want me to stress that Rogen was a real mensch on set. He’s also a fan of CHUD. Kiss-ass.