2011's
The Green Hornet didn't exactly light up the box office, but it didn't bomb either. It ended up grossing
$227M at the worldwide box office. That's not too shabby when you compare it against its
$120M production budget (excluding marketing costs). That's not bad for a film that was actually made in Los Angeles. If it had filmed in a location that offered a sizable tax rebate, like most films do nowadays its returns would be looked at more favorably.
So, why no sequel? In a 2013 interview with
WTF Podcast, Seth Rogen ("The Guild Trip") was quite candid about having a bad experience making the first film and his lack of interest in making a sequel. He described the mere notion of making a sequel as being a "
Nightmare." He felt the 2011 film could've been better if they had chosen a director with experience with big-budget action films instead of arthouse director Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"). And since the film had such a big budget he felt that led to the studio being more hands on than Rogen was used to. He's an actor that enjoys his creative as seen in
Superbad, Pineapple Express, 50/50, and
This Is The End.
Designs by Ironhead Studio Concept Art by Ed Natividad
Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), son and heir to Los Angeles' largest newspaper fortune, is a rich, spoiled playboy who has been happy to maintain a direction-less existence. When his father James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) dies, Britt meets an impressive and resourceful company employee, Kato (Jay Chou). They realize that they have the resources to do something worthwhile with their lives and finally step out of James Reid's shadow. Kato builds the ultimate weapon, The Black Beauty, an indestructible car with every weapon imaginable and Britt decides that in order to be heroes, they will pose as villains. With the help of Britt's new secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), they learn that the chief criminal in the city is named Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz). He has united all the gangs under his power, and he quickly sees that the Green Hornet is a direct threat to the prosperous criminal underworld he controls.
Cast: Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz, Tom Wilkinson & Jay Chou Director: Michel Gondry * Screenwriter: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg