Diane Garrett and Dave McNary of Variety:
After years of buzzing around development circles and different studios, "The Green Hornet"(pictured) is finally on its way to the big screen.
Columbia Pictures, gearing up for the May 4 debut of its "Spider-Man 3," has optioned rights to the property, with Neal H. Moritz and his Original Film banner to produce the feature adaptation.
"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 George W. Trendle and Fran Striker in 1936 -- traveling to comic book, film and TV by the 1960s -- but recent attempts to develop it for the big screen hadn't panned out.
The property had been in development at Universal and Miramax, with Kevin Smith developing it for the latter studio a few years ago (Daily Variety, Feb. 18, 2004). Moritz obtained the film rights and optioned them to Sony, where he's based.
George Clooney was at one time attached but opted out to star in "The Peacemaker." Mark Wahlberg, Jake Gyllenhaal and Jet Li also were rumored to have been involved at one time or another.
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.
Moritz expects to get the project out to writers in the next few weeks...
As a kid, I enjoyed watching reruns of the Hornet on TV...I wonder if the concept will be updated for modern audiences, or will it go for that retro-vibe ala The Shadow film of 1994 and The Phantom flick from 1996?
Stay Tuned...
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