The Green Hornet
Short description
Britt Reid is the heir to a newspaper empire in Los Angeles and has spent his life avoiding responsibility. When his father dies, Britt inherits the business and meets Kato, an employee whose skills extend well beyond his day job. The two strike up an unlikely partnership, using their resources to fight crime as masked vigilantes rather than working within the law. Their target becomes Chudnofsky, the man behind much of the city's criminal activity, while Britt's new secretary, Lenore Case, is drawn into their double lives. The film is based on the Green Hornet character created for a 1930s American radio serial.
Michel Gondry directed, working from a screenplay by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. It followed a run of films that began with Human Nature, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind and Tokyo!, and came before Mood Indigo, The Book of Solutions and two Maya titles. Rogen plays Britt, with Jay Chou as Kato, Cameron Diaz as Lenore, Tom Wilkinson as James Reid and Christoph Waltz as Chudnofsky. The credited cast runs to 51 names and the crew to 112.
The production carried a budget of 120 million USD and returned 228 million USD worldwide, a modest result against its cost. On IMDb it holds 5.8/10 from about 169,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.6/10 from roughly 3,566 votes, a narrow gap between the two.
What's left behind the scenes
- For the role in the film, Seth Rogen lost 13.5 kg.
- Nicolas Cage auditioned for the role of the main villain.
- The film features an interlude "Flight of the Bumblebee" from Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" in a modern arrangement.
- The film features a rare, previously unreleased song, "Red Death at 6:14," alongside the hit "Blue Orchid" by the American rock band The White Stripes.
- The strike Kato delivers to one of Chudnofsky's thugs is a poke, Bruce Lee's signature move.
- The rights to *The Green Hornet* passed to Miramax in 2001, and in 2004, Kevin Smith was brought on board to write the screenplay and direct the film. Jake Gyllenhaal was initially considered for the lead role. However, Smith soon stepped down as director – mainly due to a lack of confidence and his ability to work effectively with such a large budget. He remained on the project as a screenwriter and wrote two drafts of the script, but when the project stalled, the rights were eventually bought by Columbia Pictures. Seth Rogen then took on the lead role – having previously worked with Kevin Smith in the 2008 comedy *Zack and Miri Make a Porno* – and was also entrusted with writing the screenplay. Smith’s script was then adapted into a mini-series based on the comics.
- In 2008, it was planned that Stephen Chow would direct the film. He also considered playing the role of the main character's assistant – Kato.
- Among Kato’s drawings, you can notice a portrait of Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee played the role of Kato in the "Green Hornet" series (1966-1967).
- The business cards that the heroes handed out featured the "Green Hornet" logo and the address of the film’s official website.
- When the Green Hornet and Kato escape from the police and burst into Lenore Case's house, a headline in Russian can be seen on the television news: "The Green Hornet Escapes."
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
