Columbia Pictures has announced that actor/director Stephen Chow (of Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle fame) will team with Seth Rogen on the upcoming Green Hornet silver screen adaptation, due to hit theaters on June 25, 2010.
Chow will not only co-star in the film opposite Rogen as the Green Hornet’s faithful sidekick, Kato, but will also direct the film.
In a statement released by the studio, Chow said, “I’m excited to be taking on The Green Hornet — obviously, I’ve been a huge fan of the show since I was a kid. The idea of stepping into Bruce Lee’s shoes as Kato is both humbling and thrilling, and to get the chance to direct the project as my American movie debut is simply a dream come true.”
Rogen, who will star as the titular hero and act as co-screenwriter, feels that the choice to bring Chow on as director and co-star is as close to a perfect fit as he could imagine.
“Stephen was always my and [co-screenwriter] Evan [Goldberg]’s first choice for director and to play Kato,” said Rogen. “We just hope that he never finds out we’re not the Wachowski Brothers.”
For those of you not familiar with the Green Hornet, here is some background info, courtesy of Wikipedia:
The Green Hornet is Britt Reid, a newspaper publisher by day who by night goes out in his masked "Green Hornet" identity to fight crime as a vigilante, accompanied by his similarly masked Asian manservant Kato, wh driving a car, equipped with advanced technology, called "Black Beauty". The Green Hornet is often portrayed as a fair-to-above average hand-to-hand combatant and is often armed with a gun that sprays knock-out gas.
"Above average hand-to-hand combatant?" Will Rogen drop some weight for the role?! Regardless, Chow's presence on the film makes us doubly excited now.
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