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.”
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Question marks in the headline can mean only one thing: it’s time to prognosticate!  This story may not be true, so we’re free to speculate wildly!  Yee haw!  Now who wants to get shot in the dark?

*roller skates up to curb, turns off flashing lights on Speedo*
Rumor patrol here, folks.  Today’s possibly true news from an unnamed source comes from IESB, who say Sony execs are not pleased with the Seth Rogen-scripted, Michel Gondry-directed comedic take on The Green Hornet.

What we’re hearing is the Sony executives are displeased with the results. The tone is too campy [A campy Green Hornet movie?  The dastard!], they’re not happy with the work from director Michel Gondry and Seth Rogen does not look the part. At all. In fact, the feeling at Sony is the movie is a disaster.

Wait, Seth Rogen doesn’t look the part of a super hero?  If only they somehow could’ve  seen this coming…  Look, I know Michel Gondry’s movies since Eternal Sunshine haven’t been amazing, but the man painted me a tranny with a bottle in its butt for $20.  Where I’m from, that counts for something.  And keep in mind, these Sony execs who supposedly think the Green Hornet film is a disaster, they’re presumably the same people who thought Bounty Hunter and Did You Hear About the Morgans? looked like feel-good thrill rides.

Splash News today gives us our first look at The Green Hornet, Seth Rogen’s comedic take on the old time superhero being directed by Michel Gondry, who once drew me a tranny.  No word on why the crew member in the picture is wearing a surgical mask, but Rogen has that unmistakable “I just farted” smirk on his face.  But he’s Canadian. I hear that sort of thing is encouraged over there.  It keeps the moose from eating the crops. Denim crops.

(see the explosion-y video from the set, after the jump) Read the rest of this entry »

We were all pretty disappointed when Nic Cage dropped out of Seth Rogen and Michel Gondry’s The Green Hornet last week when he and Sony couldn’t come to a deal.  But now that Christoph Waltz has taken his place, everyone’s pretty happy.  See?  Everything happens for a reason.  Ha, just kidding.  Next time someone tells you that, take a dump in their fishtank, then see what they say.

I’m told that ICM’s actor Christoph Waltz who won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for playing a Nazi in Inglourious Basterds (and is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination) has now been cast as villain Chudnofsky in Sony’s The Green Hornet opposite Seth Rogen and Cameron Diaz. Since Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds came out — and crossed the $100M mark this weekend – Waltz has been offered a lot of big movies by a lot of big directors. And he’s getting big bucks now. How great he’s found success at age 52. [DeadlineHollywoodDaily]

‘Chudnofsky’, of course, was Darren Aronofsky’s nickname at clown college.  Anyway, Waltz definitely adds some acting chops to the picture, though the whattafuh? factor (which is especially important when you’ve already got Seth Rogen playing the Green Hornet) would’ve been higher with Cage.  But from what I hear, Waltz isn’t the only one bringing home the big bucks these days.  Why, just this weekend, Gary Busey headbutted two of them to death.  Later it turned out one of them was just Nic Cage dressed as a bear, but Busey said it still counts.

[picture source = geektyrant]

Ever since Nic Cage won me over with is “this is my lucky crack pipe” line delivery in Bad Lieutenant, I’ve been dying to see him in anything that doesn’t involve magic, treasure, or Jerry Bruckheimer.  Sadly, the forehead has left one such project, Seth Rogen’s comedic take on the Green Hornet.

Cage was to play the villain in Columbia’s action movie, being directed by Michel Gondry, but the actor and the studio were not able to come to terms on a deal.  No scenes with Cage were on shot for the movie, which just began principal photography in Los Angeles last week. [THR]

Bummer about Nic Cage, but I’m sure he’ll manage to keep a stiff upper face about this whole thing, he always does.  Also, and I’m just throwing it out there, there’s still time to cast the tranny Michel Gondry drew for me.  Think about it.  This is what Nic Cage would’ve wanted.