Friday
19Sep2008
Stephen Chow to Direct, Star as Kato in 'The Green Hornet'
Friday, September 19, 2008 at 5:40PM
Seth Rogen's
The Green Hornet is now Seth Rogen's and
Stephen Chow's
The Green Hornet. Chow, the one-man-band who made
Kung Fu Hustle, will direct and star as Kato in
the new version of the film, according to Columbia Pictures presidents Doug
Belgrad and Matt Tolmach.
Superhero Hype broke the news this afternoon.
"I'm excited to be taking on The Green Hornet --
obviously, I've been a huge fan of the show since I was a kid. The idea of
stepping into Bruce Lee's shoes as Kato is both humbling and thrilling, and to
get the chance to direct the project as my American movie debut is simply a
dream come true. I'm grateful to my friends at Sony, who have shown so much
faith in me for so many years...I'm eager to get started."
Producer Neal Moritz said that Chow "was the only name on the list for Kato. The material is a perfect match for his sensibilities -- Stephen in the director's chair is the best thing for the film."
"Stephen was always my and Evan's first choice for director and to play Kato," said Rogen, referring to his co-writer Evan Goldberg. "We just hope that he never finds out we're not the Wachowski Brothers." Let's get a round of applause for Columbia, taking a daring but terrific leap into the unknown with this one. First, the hiring of Rogen to not only write but star in the film and then to listen to a still relatively inexperienced writer-actor when it comes to his preference for a director is incredibly refreshing for a movie of this size. But then to go after the absolutely perfect director for the movie, despite some silly Hollywood conventions, and just trust the talent with $100 million is so rare - when it might be easier to sell with Brett Ratner directing - tells me a lot. This is going to belong to Rogen and Chow, and Columbia is smart enough to let them make the movie those two guys would make. If I had a 2010 calendar, I'd circle the date - June 25th. Until then, I'll just symbolically circle it on a post it note.
Reader Comments (1)
Wow, that's great news and a really good casting choice for Chow there. Honestly, "Kung Fu Hustle" and "Shaolin Soccer" are two of the more underrated comedies of the past few years.