THE GREEN HORNET Sequel Will Never Happen

After taking several years to reach the big screen and passing through many hands, Michel Gondry's The Green Hornet finally got to theaters on January 14th, 2011. The response wasn't so favorable, with a 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In my personal opinion, it’s not the sturdiest of superhero movies, but it’s plenty better than that other “Green” superhero (who would’ve guessed?). You have to give it props for coming up with some pretty outlandish set pieces--most done with practical effects (such as the opening club explosion). It’s clear that Seth Rogen did his homework on all things Green Hornet, from the look of the Black Beauty to a small nod to the original Kato, Bruce Lee. The only nitpick I have is that barely any of the characters are remotely likable. Also, I have never seen a worse candidate for an IMAX 3D film. I saw this in 3D, and I saw nothing that would be worthy of an IMAX 3D release. Absolutely nothing. If you saw it in IMAX, you have no soul.

Still, the film made $227 million worldwide (oddly enough, making more money internationally, I'm assuming, due to Gondry and Jay Chou's involvement). At a test screening for the film before it was released, Amy Pascal was reportedly singing the film's praises and talking up sequels. However, both writers, Rogen and Goldberg, have moved onto other projects including this summer's Neighborhood Watch and their directorial debut, The Apocalypse, planned for next year. While promoting his newest project, 21 Jump Street, Green Hornet producer Neal H. Moritz was asked about a sequel to the film and here is what he said:

The movie did almost $250 million and was actually very well liked, but we made the movie for too much money. One, we made it in L.A. for certain reasons, and two, we decided to go to 3D -- that added another $10 million. If I had done it in a tax-rebate state and not done 3D, it would have been considered a huge financial success for the studio. So we're not making a sequel.

While I'm not particularly shocked or saddened by this news, I would've liked to have seen a sequel if it could've managed to be a bit better than the original. Are you glad that the Green Hornet got a red light?