Not that i'm prejudiced against him or anything:) The news came to MediaSharx via a "Q & A session at the University of Maryland on Friday night". There, Kevin Smith is reported to have relieved fans that he's not looking for George Clooney to take the lead in the film. In fact, Smith admits he needs a hit (which is all the more reason to keep Clooney away from the picture).
MediaSharx reports :
They are actively pursuing Jet Li for the role of Kato, as had been rumored, but George Clooney is definitely not up for the lead role. It appears that Clooney hasn't been in the running since long before Smith agreed to helm the picture.
Also, Smith is really hoping that the GREEN HORNET is a big success so he can have more pull with Miramax. He wants to make Fletch but is determined to have Jason Lee as his star. Unfortunately, he noted that without a huge commercial success from the GREEN HORNET, Fletch will probably have to be pushed back until he or Lee have a bigger hit. He also said that Lee "hasn't really helped the cause" by making some rather poor choices with his roles, such as A GUY THING.
Smith is also trying to finish his two long awaited comics including the wrap up of the Spider Man/Black Cat. After he is done with those, he won't
be returning to comic writing for a while since it is too demanding for him to make the deadlines imposed by Marvel when that isn't his "real job." Movies pay more so he can't put comic writing ahead of that.