The Green Hornet is a 2011 American superhero comedy film directed by Michel Gondry from a screenplay by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

The film stars Rogen as the Green Hornet, a character created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker in 1936, and Jay Chou as his sidekick Kato, alongside Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, Edward James Olmos, David Harbour, and Tom Wilkinson.

In the film, a newspaper publisher's son, following his father's sudden death, teams up with a martial arts-skilled mechanic to become crime-fighting vigilantes, attracting the attention of a Russian mobster.

When James Reid, publisher of the Daily Sentinel, dies, his estranged son Britt takes over the newspaper and fires most of his father's personal staff.

Variety reported in October 1992 that The Green Hornet was one of the properties represented by Leisure Concepts Inc., and though the trade paper said, without explanation, "rights in limbo",[8] negotiations were ongoing with Universal Pictures.

Clooney dropped out in December 1995 to star in Batman and Robin (1997), and an anonymous source at Universal told Entertainment Weekly the following May that Greg Kinnear was being looked at for the title role.

[12] Gondry rewrote the Wilkes screenplay with Edward Neumeier, but after a year and a half of development, in which designs for props and vehicles had been created, the studio canceled the project.

[15] Christopher McQuarrie was writing a script by June 2000,[16] but with it uncompleted by October, Li moved on to work on The One (2001) while remaining attached to The Green Hornet.

[17] After spending about $10 million in development since 1992, Universal put The Green Hornet in turnaround in November 2001, by which time Li and the producers were no longer involved.

The car company that would have landed the deal would be given the chance to help develop The Green Hornet, since a script had yet to be written and no director was attached to the planned 2005 release.

I always said I'd never do a superhero film, based on my limited experience writing on Superman Lives and having to answer to the studio, Jon Peters, the comics company and eventually a director.

[26] In July, Seth Rogen, in addition to starring in the lead role, was hired to co-write the script with frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg and named as an executive producer for The Green Hornet.

[27] Rogen said that month he had not begun writing the screenplay yet, but anticipated the tone would be that of "a buddy action movie" with humor, "like Lethal Weapon and 48 Hrs.

[28] In September 2008, Columbia Pictures announced a June 25, 2010 release date, and that Hong Kong star Stephen Chow had signed to direct and to co-star as Kato.

Chow, a fan of the TV show as a kid, explained: "The idea of stepping into Bruce Lee's shoes as Kato is both humbling and thrilling, and to get the chance to direct the project as my American movie debut is simply a dream come true".

[38] The production modified 29 Imperial Crown sedans from model years 1964 to 1966 to portray the Green Hornet's luxurious supercar, the Black Beauty.

[40] One such vehicle was given away by the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's as a sweepstakes prize and later consigned to the 2017 Barrett-Jackson auto auction at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, where it was sold for $29,700.

[43] In July 2009, Sony presented a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, where Rogen and director Michel Gondry unveiled the first look for the Black Beauty.

[46] The studio and CKE Restaurants, Inc., the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, formed a promotional marketing partnership that included commercials featuring Rogen and Chou in character as the Green Hornet and Kato; a beverage promotion with Dr. Pepper; The Green Hornet food items, kids' meal toys, and employee uniforms; and a contest with the grand prize of a Black Beauty car from the film.

It also featured a hidden mini-game fighting game called The Green Hornet: Crime Fighter, which was also released for browsers and Android phones.

Located within the Columbia Pictures Zone of the theme park, the roller coaster is a custom "Bobsled" model made by the German ride manufacturer, Gerstlauer.

[50] The Discovery Channel television show MythBusters aired a "Green Hornet Special" that featured Seth Rogen joining the hosts in testing two "myths" from the movie.

The site's critical consensus reads: "It's sporadically entertaining, but The Green Hornet never approaches the surreal heights suggested by a Michel Gondry/Seth Rogen collaboration.

[57] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A to F.[58] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called it "[a]n anemic, 97-pound weakling of the action comedy persuasion ... a boring bromedy that features a hero who has no idea what he's even doing with mumblecore heroics instead of the real thing".

[62] Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News gave it three and a half out of five stars, and commented that the "irreverently funny" film had "a vibe so casual you half expect star Seth Rogen to amble off screen and put his feet up on the seat next to you" and praising director Gondry's "sense of humor and acute visual skill" even while calling the movie "cheerfully unfocused".