After spending years pursuing the rights to the franchise, director Gavin O’Connor will team with Paramount to make a reimagining of The Green Hornet.
The Green Hornet and Kato, by Jeff Butler.
“As a kid, when most of my friends were into Superman and Batman, there was only one superhero who held my interest: The Green Hornet,” O’Connor told Deadline. “I always thought he was the baddest badass because he had no superpowers. The Green Hornet was a human superhero.”
To that end, the director plans on taking the characters, which have usually been adapted with an eye on camp (like on TV) or traditional comedy (like in the 2011 Seth Rogen movie), and giving them a more serious, modern take.
“My intention is to bring a gravitas to The Green Hornet that wipes away the camp and kitsch of the previous iteration,” O’Connor said. “I want to re-mythologize The Green Hornet in a contemporary context, with an emphasis on story and character, while at the same time, incorporating themes that speak to my heart.”
O’Connor, who recently directed The Accountant but also did the underrated Pride & Glory and Warrior, will work closely with video game writer Sean O’Keefe on the screenplay — and Paramount, of course, hopes this is the start of a new franchise.
“I think of this film as Batman upside down meets Bourne inside out by way of Chris Kyle,” O’Connor said. “He’s the anti-Bruce Wayne. His struggle: Is he a saviour or a destroyer? Britt made money doing bad things, but moving forward he’s making no money doing good things. He must realise his destiny as a protector and force of justice by becoming the last thing he thought he’d ever become: his father’s son. Which makes him a modern Hamlet. By uncovering his past, and the truth of his father, Britt unlocks the future.”
There’s no immediate timeline for the film.
[Deadline]