Earlier this summer, things didn’t look good for Sony and Michel Gondry‘s “The Green Hornet.” Geek reception to the early trailers were not good and the decision to retrofit the film to 3D (a move Gondry defends as being planned from day one) coupled with a January release date spelled disaster in the eyes of many, but it appears that sentiment may change.
The LA Times reports that Sony is feeling good — very good — about the film. The film had a test screening earlier in the week in Long Beach and word is that it went over like gangbusters. According to the random people who got to see a comic book movie for free, the film scored a 93 rating in the section of the score cards where people rated the film “excellent” or “very good.” 83% would “definitely recommend” the film and perhaps most intriguing of all, Sony chief Amy Pascal was apparently overheard talking about plans for a sequel.
But before everyone has a collective nerdgasm, let’s slow the train down just a bit. Firstly, test audiences are notoriously unreliable and temperamental. Some directors swear by them, others hate it. That being said, high test scores are indeed a rarity and definitely sought after, so the fact that “The Green Hornet” is connecting with a geek audience is very important to Sony and a good sign for them (though it remains to be seen if the comic faithful will be convinced). However, the idea of a potential sequel isn’t exactly new.
Way back during the madness that was Comic-Con, we caught up with screenwriter Evan Goldberg (who wrote the film with its star and “Superbad” collaborator Seth Rogen) and when we asked point blank, “are you considering a ‘Green Hornet 2’ yet?” He gave an emphatic yes response: “You don’t make a movie like this without considering the sequel. Yeah, we have the whole plot planned out, which is kind of what we would have done in the first place.”
And so while the seeds of a sequel seem to have been in place for a while, and though Sony may be tentatively considering the possibilities of second film, they will undoubtedly be waiting for the biggest determining factor: opening weekend grosses. The film is about two months away from release, which seems like a long time, but if you factor in the Christmas rush and post holiday malaise and general downtime, it leaves a very small and very competitive window for the studio to rev their marketing machine engines again. The film will definitely need another major marketing push to remind everyone that it’s coming out and to give the picture another boost of confidence from the studio. But when the film opens on January 14, 2011 — a tough weekend as it squares off against the Ron Howard rom-com “The Dilemma” — it will be seen if the studio can turn the film into a “Spider-Man“-sized success that will play to all quadrants or if it will suffer the fate of something like “Kick-Ass,” which pretty much played strictly to its core audience. With at least $100 million riding on this, Sony is definitely hoping the gamble of centering a comic franchise on untested action lead Seth Rogen and auteur Michel Gondry pays off big.
these comments are all so old, but I still want a sequel, the Green Hornet was one of the funniest movies since a long time!
I laughed A LOT more than in Johnny English 2 for example (the movie was great to, but not really like "shit-i'm-laughing-all the time)
But still, the Naked Gun is the funniest movie I've ever seen. (it's sad nothing reached this in so many years)
I loved the twist that Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg gave to The Green Hornet…it was silly funny (overdone sometimes) but for the most part, it wasn't as bad as a few critics made it out to be (and face it, if you hated this movie, you might take watching it over Punisher: War Zone). The origin was clear and didn't take 2/3 of the movie to explain, the villians were laid out clearly, and the entertainment value was on point. I am dying to see a sequel!!! Considering Hollywood isn't working on much anymore that either isn't a remake or inspiried by literature, might as well dance with the ladies that come to the dance!
Bruce Lee must be turning over in his grave Seth Rogen was terrible as the green hornet he is one of the worst actors in the film industry today and I dont find him to be funny at all I regret buying a movie ticket to see the movie, Jay Chou was alright as kato, IF there are any plan for a sequel Britt Reid/ Green Hornet part should be play buy Jake G.
kato is really a chinese hero butt his real name i chen zhen if u want to see a movie just about kato its Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
Yes i would definetly like to see a Grenn Hornet sequel with a bit more seriousness to it I think it would be awesome
I actually enjoyed it for what is was and I found it wasn\’t true to the TV series. I just feel that it was the wrong director to handle it, otherwise I enjoyed it.
The Green Hornet is the best movie I\’ve watched in my entire life Ohh Yeahh it is, point blank.
PS: I do love lay chou as kato ^^
I loved kato\’s atittude always accepting and helping the green hornet, I would like to see a squeal about the adventure of those two
I just saw this movie over the weekend, it was alright. I didn\’t really like Jay Chou as Kato that much, he\’s good looking but I didn\’t understand what he was saying sometimes with his heavy accent and Seth Rogen seemed obnoxiously mean most of the film even though it was meant to be funny. And the 3-D was too dark and did nothing to the experience. I felt like I was watching a first shooter game.
When was The Green Hornet a comic book? I thought it was a radio serial that became a television series.
Also, I really don\’t think most people that read comic books are old enough to remember the original series; I don\’t think the property has any real cachet with geeks because nothing has really happened with it in the past few decades other than this film. The core fanbase for the Green Hornet is probably marginal enough to make Kick-Ass fans look like Star Wars fans in comparison, and marginal/disparate enough that it\’s ultimately pointless and likely impossible to do so.
Be Kind Rewind showed that Gondry can make very palatable mass-market films, so I guess it is not terribly surprising that it appears he did just that.
I was at the second test screening a couple months ago. Let me tell you, this is a stinker. Besides three well directed sequences and Rogen being likeable, this movie is terrible. Christoph Waltz and Cameron Diaz are god awful. I don\’t know, maybe it got better between that screening and this one
of course! it\’s a Gondry\’s movie
The only thing interesting about the original 60\’s TV show was Bruce Lee\’s Kato. Now it seems Kato is the most interesting thing about this film. Why don\’t they just make Kato movies?