GreenHornet-SEthRogen-Vaughn

Sony has announced that they’re pushing the Seth Rogen-and-Evan-Goldberg scripted Green Hornet, starring Rogen and directed by Michel Gondry, back a month and converting it to 3D. Last week a report came from IESB saying Sony execs thought it was “a disaster,” which Sony quickly denied.  The supposed sticking point was that Sony didn’t like Rogen and Gondry’s take and were hoping for a more traditional, blockbuster superhero movie.  Converting it to 3D seems like a move in that direction.

The Michel Gondry-helmed pic will now open Jan. 14, 2011. The studio bristled at the notion that bad buzz surrounding the project played a role in its decision to abandon one of choicest days on the box office calendar. Instead, Sony said that once the decision was made to incorporate 3D during the production process, “Green Hornet” needed to find a frame with sufficient digital screens. A number of 3D pics have already staked out December slots including “Tron: Legacy” and “Yogi Bear.”

“We’ve had a lot of success with the Martin Luther King frame, including ‘Paul Blart,’” said the studio’s marketing and distribution topper Jeff Blake. [Variety]

This removes the action-comedy from the busy late December time slot but gives the movie a 4-day holiday weekend against Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf and MGM’s The Cabin in the Woods, which was pushed back for 3D conversion. [ComingSoon]

It’s hard to concentrate on Green Hornet when the other titles in this story are Tron, Yogi Bear, Paul Blart, Cabin in the Woods, and that Tyler Perry thing I don’t even feel like retyping.  WOOF.  That title doesn’t even approach making sense.  It’s like schizophrenic word association.  Coming soon, Tyler Presents Tyler Perry’s “The Clock That Dreamed Dishwasher.”

Anyway, I have a feeling the Green Hornet is going to be a Land of the Lost-style flop.  I was excited to see a Michel Gonry/Seth Rogen funny take on it, but the studio clearly isn’t into that.  They wouldn’t make it 3D if they weren’t trying to sell it as a traditional superhero movie.  Kick-Ass wasn’t even in 3D.  Meanwhile, the only people who know what the hell the traditional Green Hornet even is are probably dead by now.  The character is like a billion years old.  He’s so old he has “an Asian manservant who drives his car.”  (If I had an Asian servant, driving my car is probably the last thing I’d want him to do but I digress).  Point is, it’s not looking good.  When your movie is half contemporary comedy and half  campy 30s serial about a guy who owns slaves, it’s generally trouble.