Caffeinated Clint
The producer of “XXX” and “Fast and the Furious” onboard
Looks like “The Green Hornet” is finally going to fly.
Just a couple of years ago, The Weinstein Company had the rights to the TV series and had asked Kevin Smith to write the film version. At one stage, Jake Gyllenhaal was said to be the favourite to play the lead (But when isn’t Jake the favourite to play the lead in one of these superhero-ish movies, hey?)
Smith left the project – later telling reporters, “As I started writing it I was like, ‘I can not direct an action movie. I have no idea how to do it. I’m not good at it and I don’t have patience.’– and the Weinstein’s ultimately gave up on the idea.
Now Columbia has snapped up the property and tapped uber-producer Neal Moritz (“The Fast and the Furious”) to produce a film version, says Variety.
“The Green Hornet” follows the adventures of Brit Reid, a millionaire publisher who moonlights as a masked crime fighter. It started as a radio serial hatched by “Lone Ranger” creators Fran Striker and George Trendle in 1936 — traveling to comicbook, film and TV by the 1960s — but recent attempts to develop it for the bigscreen hadn’t panned out.
The property had been in development at Universal and Miramax. Moritz obtained the film rights and optioned them to Sony, where he’s based.
Moritz said he’s been a fan of “The Green Hornet” since seeing the ’60s live-action TV series that starred Van Williams and Bruce Lee, and he’s been trying to get the rights for years.
He’s currently on the hunt for a writer.
