Director Michel Gondry walks onstage at Sony Pictures Entertainment: 'Green Hornet' Panel Comic-Con (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) |
"I had the property 14 years ago. We worked on it for a while but it just never happened," he told Cineplex while promoting the film at Comic-Con in San Diego. "It went through 5-6 directors and came back to me."
Previous directors attached to the project included such diverse talents as Kevin Smith and Stephen Chow, who was also supposed to star as sidekick Kato though the role eventually went to Jay Chou. Canadian actor-comedian Seth Rogen, largely known for his stoner comedies and bromance laffers, is playing Britt Reid and famously shed serious pounds to more accurately reflect the vigilante action hero's toned physique. He's also penning the script with writing partner Evan Goldberg, with whom he co-wrote Superbad and Pineapple Express.
Gondry, best known for freely mixing the surreal with the hypperreal and often investigating his characters' dreamstates in films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep and a slew of fantastical music videos before that, promises the movie will be another one-of-a-kind experience."It's a fun ride," he reveals. "It's largely comedic and different from other action and comic book films out there."
Even with the onslaught of comic book adaptations coming to a theatre near you over the next year - think Thor, Scott Pilgrim, Red and Captain America, etc. - Gondry still has a few tricks up his sleeve, explaining that in his singular way, he'll mix things up, providing audiences with an enjoyable, interesting action movie.
"There's still room for innovation with the genre," he says and, with a track record like his, we're inclined to believe it.
The Green Hornet opens January 14, 2011.
| Subscribe to our RSS feed | |
| Follow us on Twitter | |
| Friend us on Facebook | |
| Find us on your Mobile Device | |
| Download the Cineplex App |

© Cineplex Entertainment LP 2012