"Is it true that Mythbusters has anything to do with genuine scientific skepticism, or is it just a version of Jackass for idiots who want to pretend that gratuitous explosions and weapons fire they set off bear some scientific value?"
Official Miramax Press Release
ACCLAIMED FILMMAKER KEVIN SMITH STUNG BY THE GREEN HORNET
Miramax Films Taps Smith to Write and Direct Action-Adventure Feature
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (February XX, 2004) -- Gearing up for one of its most ambitious film franchises to date, Miramax Films co-chairman Harvey Weinstein announced today that renowned filmmaker and comic book author, collector and self described "comic fan-boy" Kevin Smith will write and direct the film version of the classic action-adventure persona, The Green Hornet. The film represents Miramax's expansion of its development and production slate to include motion pictures that can compete in the "tent pole" marketplace. George Trendle, the son of Green Hornet creator George Trendle, will executive produce the film along with Harold Berkowitz.
Smith is keeping the plot a closely guarded secret, and will only go as far to say that it would remain very true to Trendle's characters with a few new twists.
"Kevin's tremendous work on our upcoming Jersey Girl, has demonstrated his continued growth as a filmmaker and we have no doubt that he will tackle this franchise for us in a compelling and entertaining way. In addition to being a great writer and director, Kevin knows more about comic characters, books and the creative process than anyone else I have ever met," said Weinstein. "The character of The Green Hornet offers a myriad of possible film ideas and numerous merchandise and branded integration opportunities with our corporate partners, giving us a platform for a very viable and long standing franchise."
"Long-time comics geek gets to make comic book movie? This is a dream come true. I'm still reeling! You don't know how in love with Harvey Weinstein I am right now. I couldn't have asked for a better vote of confidence in me as a filmmaker than being afforded the opportunity with 'Hornet' to push beyond the boundaries of what I've done in film thus far, said Smith. Adding "And making this movie with Miramax means that not only will we deliver an exciting, chop-socky-filled action flick, but it's gonna have a compelling story, believable characters, and great dialogue to boot! Let's roll, Kato!"
Beginning with his seminal film Clerks, Smith has woven comic book references and iconology into the dialogue and characters in many of his films. In 1997's Chasing Amy, Smith's two main characters, who are comic-book writers/artists, create a comic duo known as Bluntman and Chronic; a duo which also appears in Smith's 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. In Mallrats, Smith also features comic-book legend Stan Lee in a supporting role.
Smith is well known for writing award-winning, best-selling runs of "Daredevil" for Marvel Comics and "Green Arrow" for DC Comics, as well as comics based on his films Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Smith is also credited with rekindling the mainstream public's interest in comics through his 1998 Daredevil comic book story arc, entitled Guardian Devil.
Serving as Hollywood's comic-book connoisseur, Smith is no stranger to The Green Hornet. In 1993 Smith sold his comic book collection to help finance the $27,000 budget of his 1994 debut film, "Clerks;" a collection which included several 'Green Hornet' titles.
Smith is the proud owner of his own comic book store, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, which opened in 1997 in Red Bank, NJ and is scheduled to open a west coast branch in Westwood this May.
Jon Gordon, executive vice president of production, and Hannah Minghella, creative executive, will oversee the project on behalf of Miramax.
Charles Layton, executive vice president, office of the co-chairman, and Steve Hutensky, executive vice president of business affairs, negotiated on behalf of Miramax. Attorney John Sloss and the Endeavor Agency represented Smith.
Miramax and Smith's most recent collaboration Jersey Girl, starring Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler, will open in theaters nationwide on March 26, 2004.
All I can say is, Kevin writing AND directing a comic book action/adventure movie? I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!! After this one breaks records, we suggest they give Kevin the Superman duties and let him clean up THAT mess!
Too bad those rights are held by Warner Bros, and not by Miramax. The only that would happen now is if Harvey Weinstein cuts a deal to co-produce or co-distribute the film with Warner Bros., much as they're doing with Artisan withe Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.
Well by they, I meant Hollywood in gneral. It's OK, I'm not slamming you. It's my fault for not being clearer. Sorry.
I hear that Smith may not be directing this after all. I think he's still writing it, but I read at Cinescape's site (in the Development Heck section) that he doesn't think he's ready for a big action flick like this.
I could see him writing in it, but starring? That could be... interesting.
What's that I hear?
Oh, yeah.
The sound of a movie winding as a BOMB.
Seth, just go and do 'Knocked Up II' and leave the Green Hornet to someone that's less doughy!
Pic of Rogen and Jay Chou in costume.
Sony is reportedly displeased with the results, but they themselves deny those reports.
Short video with part of the trailer from Entertainment Tonight.
And here's the trailer. Looks fun.
I guess the Green Hornet's overcoat might hide any pudginess in Seth Rogen's body, but I agree; this looks pretty good.
The pic's release date is scheduled to be January 14, 2011. I would think that this would be a major summer movie. So, why would the distributors (Columbia/Sony) dump it in mid-January? Unless that date is an error.
I believe it's right. Sometimes, major releases will arrive in the late winter/spring season, especially when there isn't much competition against it. Alice in Wonderland, for example, came out in March to my surprise.
Most superhero movies since Superman II, back in 1981, have been released in the summertime. All six Batman, three Spiderman and two Ironman movies were major summer movies. In fact, Superman II, which was released in Europe in late 1980, was held over in the U.S. to June of '81 by Warners, to grab the big summer movie dollars. And, grab them it did. The period just after Christmas used to be a dead time to release a movie. However, back in 2008, Cloverfield proved that a movie released in January could be succesful. Especially when some of the less successful Christmas released fall by the wayside. Still, I think it's a bit odd that this movie is coming out in January. Alice in Wonderland was released in March, probably to grab the kiddie Easter business.
JMHO.
A lot of superhero movies, particularly those that focus on lesser known heroes, are non-summer, though. Daredevil, Elektra, Hellboy, both Punisher movies, Ghost Rider, V for Vendetta, none of those were released in the summer. Even The Spirit, which may be the most valid comparison, had a holiday release rather than summer.
Saw the trailer the other day. Jeez, this looks awful. My main problem with the movie can be summed up in two words - Seth. Rogen. His Britt Reid seems to be such a jerk extraordinaire in the movie (and I'm being very kind) it's a real turn-off to me. He plays the part the same way he does his "lovable slacker" persona from Knocked Up and The 40-Year Old Virgin. Which to me is a big mistake. The saving grace of the film is the use of the same (or similar) car the TV series used - a customized 1966 Chrysler Imperial. I say now that a January release means the studio has no faith in the film, and they're dumping it. Let's wait four months and see if I'm right.
On the other hand the studio might be giving it a chance so that it doesn't have to compete with other December movies that might steal viewers like the next Chronicles of Narnia movie, Gulliver's Travels, Little Fockers, and Tron: Legacy.
Judging by the Hardee's (Carls, Jr. to some of y'all) commercials I've seen, we can forget about this movie having any serious side to it. That is if the casting of Seth Rogan didn't already tip you off to that fact.
Hardees is Carls, Jr.? I didn't know that. But I thought Carls Jr. only existed on the West Coast. I've never seen either on the East.
West coast as well as the Rockies. It's Carl's in Denver but Hardees in Kansas City, so the dividing line seems to be right around there.
I'm sre it'll be like Iron Man, with plenty of comedy, but some drama to boot. Even in Rogen's comedies, he can dial it back from time to time.
The commercial portrayed the Hornet as a pompous, bumbling idiot. In other words, kinda like Maxwell Smart.
Check out the commercial here.
The Green Hornet movie doesn't look very good to me but the Mythbusters will be doing a crossover where they test some of the stuff from the movie. That looks like fun. They get to outfit a classic car with machine guns and than shoot at it with machine guns.
Yeah, the myth they're testing is,
"Is it true that Mythbusters has anything to do with genuine scientific skepticism, or is it just a version of Jackass for idiots who want to pretend that gratuitous explosions and weapons fire they set off bear some scientific value?"
The ads are up on the NYC MTA buses. This pic is being released in 3-D. That was doubtless an after-the-fact idea, to ride with the current 3-D fad, as the trailer I saw had no hint that the pic was to be released in 3-D. So, if you plan to see this, get yourself a double dose of headache pills. One dose to alleviate the pain of the 3-D, and the second dose to get rid of the headache you'll get after spending $11 or $12 of your hard-earned money on this twaddle.
Here's an unexpectedly good review, from the Daily News, which may make me eat crow over my previous criticism of the film. I don't think I'll be paying $12 to see this in a theater, but it may be worth a DVD rental.
And, in my never-ending quest to give Nit-Central readers both sides of the issue, here's a very negative review from Lou Lumenick of the N.Y. Post. I got at least two good laughs from his review, though.
So,has anyone seen it yet--and is it worth seeing???
Should I take it then that this is a really, really bad film???
I'm going to go out on a limb here and totally recommend this movie to you, John, and everyone else. I had a thoroughly good time, and am looking forward to seeing it a second time.
Usually I hate to recommend a movie and say how great it was, because after many years on this site I've learned that there's an absolute truth in the saying, 'One man's poison is another man's passion'. Many times I felt sure other posters here would like or dislike the same episodes of Star Trek or Doctor Who that I would, only to be surprised that even the worst episode, tv show, or movie has its fans.
I feel the review from the N.Y.Post was unncessarily negative. This movie WAS funny-- I was in a theatre 2 weeks after the movie premiered, and it was about two-thirds full, and I can atest to many, many outbursts of laughter at the right moments.
I admit that I scoffed at the thought of Seth Rogen as the Green Hornet at the top of this page, but that was when I thought the movie would be serious. An unlikely hero? Darn right, he is, and that's what makes it so unique!
Kato steals the show many times, and yet he's not the Terminator-styled assassin that Bruce Lee could be.
Not every movie can be 'The Dark Knight' and that's a good thing. They HAVE to be different, or else the genre will become boring.
Personally, I'm hoping for a Green Hornet sequel very much.
Ignore the so-called critics, John, since they'd rather go see 'The King's Speech', 'Black Swan', or 'The Fighter', and poo-poo fun, escapist movies like this one.
Go see it and enjoy it!
DVD to be released on 5/3/11. Also, a Blu-Ray and a 3-D Blu-Ray will come out as well. More here. The 3-D Blu-Ray is very pricey, at $50 list.)
The "Starz" channel is already promoting this film as "Coming Soon", a scant five months after its theatrical release. My guess is that it won't run on the channel until at least October, as Starz starts to play a lot of their films some nine months after their theatrical run.
If you have "Starz On Demand", this film is playing now, as an "Early Premiere." It's not available in HD, however. 
For that, I guess you'll have to wait a couple of weeks, until the Starz channels start running this movie.
Kato claimed the Black Beauty was front wheel drive; that's how he and Reid were able to get out of the predicament they were in. Unless Kato converted the cars while Reid was in his "coma", the 1966 Chrysler Imperial that the Black Beauty was based on was rear wheel drive. As were almost all cars of the late sixties. The only front wheel drive American car of that era was the Oldsmobile Toronado.