When Sony released “The Green Hornet” back in 2011, it’s safe to say things didn’t go as planned. Fans didn’t like the take on the comic book character, the film didn’t break $100 million domestically, and later, both the director and star were candid about the failings of the production. Michel Gondry, making his first and still only blockbuster movie, said he didn’t get the artistic freedom he wanted, while Seth Rogen bluntly said the entire endeavor was “a fucking nightmare.”
So, there’s plenty of room for improvement, and now Paramount has snapped up the rights, and has a new movie cooking. Gavin O’Connor, fresh off the action packed “The Accountant,” has been tapped to direct “The Green Hornet,” with Sean O’Keefe writing the script. But this is no mere revamp of an existing IP (okay, it’s that too). O’Connor is a massive fan of the comic, and has been waiting for the rights to become available so he can put his spin on it.
“I’m beyond excited to bring The Green Hornet into the 21st century in a meaningful and relevant way; modernizing it and making it accessible to a whole new generation. My intention is to bring a gravitas to The Green Hornet that wipes away the camp and kitsch of the previous iteration,” he said in a statement to Deadline.“I want to re-mythologize The Green Hornet in a contemporary context, with an emphasis on story and character, while at the same time, incorporating themes that speak to my heart. The comic book movie is the genre of our time. How do we look at it differently? How do we create a distinctive film experience that tells itself differently than other comic book movies? How do we land comfortably at the divide between art and industry? How do we go deeper, prompt more emotion? How do we put a beating heart into the character that was never done before? These are my concerns…these are my desires, my intentions, my fears, my goals.”
Lofty stuff, but I really hope “gravitas” isn’t code for “gritty and serious,” oh geez, wait, spoke to soon….
“When we meet Britt Reid he’s lost faith in the system. Lost faith in service. In institutions. If that’s the way the world works, that’s what the world’s going to get. He’s a man at war with himself,” O’Connor added. “A secret war of self that’s connected to the absence of his father. It’s the dragon that’s lived with him that he needs to slay. And the journey he goes on to become The Green Hornet is the dramatization of it, and becomes Britt’s true self. I think of this film as Batman upside down meets Bourne inside out by way of Chris Kyle [‘American Sniper’]. He’s the anti-Bruce Wayne. His struggle: Is he a savior or a destroyer?”
Sheesh. So, I guess we’re getting a very grim “The Green Hornet.” Excited? No word yet on casting, or those kinds of details, but feel free to toss us your suggestions below.