THE GREEN HORNET Getting Gritty Makeover

Director Gavin O’Connor (‘The Accountant,’ ‘Warrior’) has been set to helm a reboot ‘The Green Hornet’ for Paramount Pictures and Chernin Entertainment, with plans for a darker take on the material.

Created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, ‘The Green Hornet’ debuted in the 1930s on radio and later moved to the small screen with the cult 1960s TV series starring Van Williams as the titular masked crime-fighter and Bruce Lee as his sidekick, Kato.

An action-comedy take on the property starring Seth Rogen and Jay Chou arrived in 2011, however the film failed to light up the box office, receiving mixed reviews.

“I’ve been wanting to make this movie – and create this franchise – since I’ve wanted to make movies,” O’Connor told Deadline. “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. I always thought he was the baddest badass because he had no superpowers. The Green Hornet was a human superhero. And he didn’t wear a clown costume. And he was a criminal in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of the criminal world.”

The filmmaker added, “My intention is to bring a gravitas to The Green Hornet that wipes away the camp and kitsch of the previous iteration. 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. The comic book movie is the genre of our time. How do we look at it differently?”

Sean O’Keefe is on board to shape the script with O’Connor, who will also serve as producer with Peter Chernin.