Seth Rogen Updates Us On ‘Green Hornet’

There’s been some recent buzz surrounding The Green Hornet, what with Seth Rogen out doing junkets for Observe & Report and Monster Vs. Aliens. Some of the major questions have been addressed, like how much comedy will there be; what will Michel Gondry’s take on the character look like and what role does Stephen Chow still have.

Via SCI FI Wire, Rogen said the film will be both comedy and action because they’re not “mutually exclusive.” That’s good to hear, but Green Hornet was always more camp than comedy; does Rogen get that?

“I’ve seen the early ‘Indiana Jones’ movies in theaters, and they kill,” Rogen said. “There’s laughs throughout the whole thing, and it doesn’t feel like a comedy per se. It just feels like something that’s trying to solicit reactions from the audience, and we think of movies like ‘True Lies’ and stuff like that. That’s more kind of what we’re going for with this.”

Hmmm. It’s hard to tell if he’s in on the joke, but what will it look like? This project has been plagued with stylistic questions since its inception; those questions have only gotten louder now that Gondry is in the director’s chair. But he won’t be delivering his Be Kind Rewind homemade-style, Rogen told Collider.

“He’s like, ‘No, I don’t want to any of that. The fact that you think I want to do that drives me crazy and makes me never want to do anything like that again.’ He hates being predictable and repetitive and doing what’s been done before.  As soon as he starts to feel like he’s expected to do something he doesn’t want to do it at all.”

Hopefully this won’t be another run-of-the-mill summer flick. I wanted it to be a little more over-the-top with Chow in the directorial seat; he could’ve done something ridiculous like Bruce Lee meets Die Hard or maybe, True Lies (now where have I heard that?). But until further notice, I’m putting my faith in Gondry.

Speaking of Stephen Chow, the mastermind behind Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer, Ain’t It Cool News has word that he’s “still part of the team”; in fact  Rogen met with both him and Gondry this past week. But Latino Review has said that Chow’s involvement is not a done deal and a contract has not been signed. Better break out the pens because shooting begins sometime near the end of June.

Do you feel like The Green Hornet is in good enough hands with Seth Rogen? Or do you feel that Stephen Chow needs to be on-board for this film to be done right?

The Green Hornet is set to be released June 25, 2010.

Sources: SCI FI Wire, Collider, AICN, LatinoReview