Deadline brings word that Paramount Pictures is eager to get in on the comic book franchise game and have tasked The Accountant and Warrior director Gavin O’Connor with bringing it to the big screen.
“I’ve been wanting to make this movie — and create this franchise — since I’ve wanted to make movies,” O’Connor told the outlet. “As a kid, when most of my friends were into Superman and Batman, there was only one superhero who held my interest — The Green Hornet. I always thought he was the baddest badass because he had no superpowers. The Green Hornet was a human superhero. And he didn’t wear a clown costume. And he was a criminal — in the eyes of the law — and in the eyes of the criminal world.”
O’Connor will develop the project alongside Sean O’Keefe, who will pen the script.
“I want to re-mythologize The Green Hornet in a contemporary context, with an emphasis on story and character, while at the same time, incorporating themes that speak to my heart. The comic book movie is the genre of our time. How do we look at it differently? How do we create a distinctive film experience that tells itself differently than other comic book movies? How do we land comfortably at the divide between art and industry? How do we go deeper, prompt more emotion? How do we put a beating heart into the character that was never done before? These are my concerns…these are my desires, my intentions, my fears, my goals.”
Created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker in 1936, the character debuted as a radio serial and has since made the transition to comic book and television series. The alter ego of Britt Reid, the Green Hornet is a superhero posing as a criminal in an effort to further bring down the underworld who is assisted by his partner Kato and their tricked out car, The Black Beauty.
The character most famously transitioned to the small screen with Van Williams as the title hero and Bruce Lee as Kato. A feature film of The Green Hornet was previously produced in 2011 starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, and Cameron Diaz and brought in $227 million at the global box office despite disappointing domestic returns. It had been in development for many years with a number of high profile actors and filmmakers attached at different times, including George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Christopher McQuarrie, Kevin Smith, and Jake Gyllenhaal.
