Seth Rogen's 'Green Hornet' Delayed Again

Hey, what a shock: Sony is putting as much distance as it can between all the negative press surrounding The Green Hornet and the actual release date. A couple months ago, it was going to be one of the studio's big summer movies, having a late June weekend all to itself. Then they bounced it two weeks forward so it opened not only on a more crowded weekend but between Twilight: Eclipse and Inception, so nobody would be paying attention. And now it just got moved again. The Michel Gondry-directed, Seth Rogen-everything else Hornet will now open on December 17, 2010, and the best logistical reason I can give you as that the movie simply wouldn't be ready in time for July. True, it has gotten off to a late start thanks to the re-casting of Kato following the departure of one-time director and co-star Stephen Chow, so if it were to roll into production later this fall, that does cut it kind of close for an action movie with a big budget. If, however, you've been following one of the most disappointing pre-production periods in recent years, you might come to the conclusion - as I have - that this is just not going to be salvaged very easily, and moving it to December 2010 gives the studio the chance to push it back three or four more weeks, perhaps into Sony's Paul Blart slot in January 2011. At least there it has a chance to make some money by default. I've never bought Rogen as an action hero; to me, the point at which Pineapple Express no longer mattered was when Seth battled a drug cartel and jumped down onto Gary Cole from about 20 feet above him. So to see him do this for an entire movie seems like taking a swing at a pitch well outside the strike zone. When Chow was replaced by Gondry the focus went from a director who specializes in efficient, fun action comedies to one of the most experimental directors around, to say nothing of losing Chow's possible brilliance on screen as Kato. In recent weeks, we've heard that Cameron Diaz will join the cast, and that should have no impact either way. Nic Cage has been rumored for the villain, and well...I'll let you decide whether or not that can save this project. In my mind, Sony is just giving itself as many opportunities as it can to soften the blow of a film that had some potential and now looks like a train wreck waiting to happen. At the time, it thought Seth Rogen could sell movie tickets. False. And with everything else that's gone on, I'd be surprised if Green Hornet kept that December 2010 release date. There's too much competition in the theaters and in the advertising marketplace, and since you're probably not going to break even either way, you might as well place it where nothing else is.

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