First he was no longer directing The Green Hornet. Now, Stephen Chow, the Hong Kong actor-helmer-madcap mayhem maestro behind the martial arts comedies Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer, has left the production altogether. Chow will no longer be playing sidekick Kato to Seth Rogen’s Green Hornet in director Michel Gondry’s relaunch of the 20th century pulp hero as 21st century superhero. “There was a mutual and amicable decision by both sides to move on,” a Columbia Pictures spokesperon said in a statement. “We are out now to cast a new Kato and remain fully committed to Michel Gondry’s exciting vision for the film, which will begin production this September.” Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) is directing from a script written by Rogen and frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg (Superbad). Cameron Diaz is in talks for the female lead. (Reporting by Nicole Sperling)
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Comments (1-25) of 25 Add your comment
why does this spell disaster to me?
i have all the faith in the world for Gondry but, Rogen AND possibly cameron diaz??? i dont like rogen in most of what he has done and cameron diaz is an over-rated actress. Why Gondry, why?
Two words:
Donnie Yen
What kind of reporting did Nicole Sperling do on this story? Perhaps read the websites that covered this already and then forget to give credit?
I would like me some Donnie Yen. Or maybe Mark Ducascos.
Seth Rogen as the Green Hornet is the worst casting ever, whoever thought of him should be fired, the movie will suck and Michel Gondry is one of the worst directors in the business.
Are they kidding, Seth Rogen as the Green hornet. Only if it’s a comedy and even then. I don’t think he is all that funny.
i agree with the donnie yen nomimation. he’s an awesome martial artist and can speak very good english.
Stephen Chow might be silly in all of his movies, but he’s a very intelligent guy. He made the right decision abandoning this project. His next film “Journey To The West” will be huge.
I could deal with Rogen since Lantern is supposed to be an ‘every man’ who ends up in extraordinary circumstances but Diaz is too old looking to play the female lead, even to Rogen. And, I’m kind of sick of her in the action movies,;Charlie’s Angels was enough, try someone new. Zooey Deschanel, Eliza Dushku, Rachel McAdams or Emily Blunt- all great actresses who could handle stuff blowing up around them and still look hot
This is a strange one. Maybe Rogen is trying to go mainstream and play it serious. I will watch this out of curiosity and see what direction they are taking. Now if they get Jackie Chan as Kato, well, it’s safe to say this will be a full fledged “Rush Hour” “Shanghai Noon” style comedy.
I guess based on the casting decisions so far, that it was intended for this Green Hornet movie to be a comedy. I was hoping for an action flick, but it sounds like it is going to be some lame parody.
this movie will be the worst one of the year in whatever year it comes out…can we just be honest..seth rogen is not that good of an actor, it all depends on the material and supporting actors around him (just look at observe and report***awful!) I just dont understand why they dont come up with some fresh and exciting like batman for this franchise and introduce the character properly to the country and world..use a nathon fillion, or someone of his style and avoid using actors cause execs think they can sell tickets…
Damn it! I was so excited for Stephen Chow to do this movie. Michel Gondry though? It could work.
Just a FYI for those dissing the “casting decision” of Seth Rogen… he WROTE the movie! Or co-wrote it, actually. He wrote it for himself to star in, so there is no casting decision there. I’m sure that he has written the movie to fit his acting style. Now the terrible casting decision of Cameron Diaz is a different story! PLEASE DON’T GET CAMERON DIAZ! I think Rogen can pull this off, but Diaz will tank this movie. She’s one of those actresses that kind of does the same thing in every movie she’s in and if people don’t like her in one movie, they’ll see her name attached to another movie and just won’t even bother seeing it. Kinda like Jennifer Aniston or Lindsay Lohan. It does suck that Chow is out, and that’s a bummer. But people are going to even more bummed if Diaz is cast. A lot of people were looking forward to this movie (including myself) and personally, I wouldn’t go see it if she’s in it.
NO CAMERON DIAZ! NO CAMERON DIAZ! NO CAMERON DIAZ! NO CAMERON DIAZ!
bigmoviemike doesn’t know movies too well – Rogen cast himself you idiot. Why does everyone assume this movie had any potential anyway? Its comedy filler….
Great, now all they need to do is get rid of Rogen, too.
This production has just been stumbling along with problem after problem. Hope there’s a crew documenting this for the E! True Hollywood story.
You didn’t include the “best” part. In the casting call, it was indicated “Actor doesn’t have to have Martial Arts experience.”
People, not everyone, this is not a DC comics movie, the Green Hornet is an old radio star from the 1930’s and not a good one. The only reason this has come up is due to Bruce Lee’s involvement in the Television series that was made in the 60’s. I don’t expect it to be good, the original wasn’t that great to begin with. Once again this is not the Green Lantern film this is something else.
Just a couple of things..I grew up watching Bruce Lee as Kato. Bruce Lee made Kato. To say that an actor does not need to know martial arts for this role is unbelievable! Bruce Lee made it real, no cgi stuff. For some one to play Kato, it is common sense to have some one with not only the ability to act but one who knows martial arts. Who? Donnie Yen, too bad Stephen Chow? Please lets see some real ‘kung fu.’
donnie yen, jet li, etc… are not good fits for this character. they are already big stars on their own right. we need a newcomer, fresh in WUSHU skills and with the right size and appearance to be the sidekick of Britt Reid. Btw, Seth Rogen is a terrible choice for this character, and i hope they do not add to this movie the type of humor seeing in Superbad or Knocked Up, it just won’t fit the original movie.
Mark Dacascos would be the perfect actor to play Kato! If you don’t know Mark already you may recognize him as the Chairman from Iron Chef America. Go watch some of his videos on http://www.youtube.com he can kick some but!
Steven Ho from the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien would be great opposite Seth Rogan.
I would agree that Mark Dacascos would be a perfect fit if they don’t find someone with the Wu Shu skills they’re looking for, granted that Jet Li would be a good choice, but he’s a big name already. I’d be surprised if he took on this role. Does it really matter what style of martial arts he practices? Bruce Lee’s roots was in Wing Chun and his system, Jeet Kuen Do was (and still is) fabulous. (Remember Enter The Dragon and the TV Series, Longstreet?) I think Mark’s Wun Hop Kuen Do (in addition to his Shaolin, Wu Shu and Capoeira) experience will be just as spectacular. Another good choice (and I agree with the last one who posted) would be Donnie Yen. As for Seth Rogen as the main character … I hope he pulls it off. It’s all wait-n-see.
donnie yen would be good or ernie reyes jr he would do good also he is a great martial artist just likes to wrk with more of the fight scenes i think but either one would do good or maybe tony jaa from the protector
it’s a real bummer that stephen chow is no longer in the movie. he’s so funny and talented. this would’ve given him wider western acknowledgement.