Article from coming Coming Soon .net and sourcing Columbia Pictures:

Stephen Chow, one of Asia's most popular box-office draws as the award-winning star and director of such films as Kung Fu Hustle, CJ7, and Shaolin Soccer, will direct Seth Rogen and star opposite him as Kato in Columbia Pictures' The Green Hornet, set for release June 25, 2010, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach, presidents of Columbia Pictures. The screenplay is by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, who will also executive produce. Neal H. Moritz is the producer through his Original Film production company.

In tapping Chow to helm The Green Hornet, Sony Pictures Entertainment continues a long association with the star and director. Under its local language initiative, Sony co-produced and released Chow's Kung Fu Hustle, which went on to gross over $100 million worldwide and received a Golden Globe® nomination as well as six Hong Kong Film Awards and five Taiwan Golden Horse Awards. Sony also released CJ7.

Commenting on the announcement, Tolmach said, "When Seth, Evan, and Neal said they wanted Stephen Chow to be part of 'The Green Hornet,' it was a fantasy. Now that it's happening, it's almost too good to be true. Stephen's been a very important part of the Sony family for many years, so it's truly serendipitous for us to be moving forward with him directing the movie and starring as Kato."

Chow added, "I'm excited to be taking on 'The Green Hornet' -- obviously, I've been a huge fan of the show since I was a kid. 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. I'm grateful to my friends at Sony, who have shown so much faith in me for so many years. I'm looking forward to working with Seth, Evan, Neal, and the team at Sony, and I'm eager to get started."

Moritz said, "'The Green Hornet' is a dream project and it's come together in a dream way. Seth will be fantastic in the lead role, and Stephen was the only name on the list for Kato. The material is a perfect match for his sensibilities -- Stephen in the director's chair is the best thing for the film."

Rogen said, "Stephen was always my and Evan's first choice for director and to play Kato. We just hope that he never finds out we're not the Wachowski Brothers."

Ori Marmur will serve as the Executive Producer of the film.

Chow previously told us of his interest in the project. "When I saw the program, I thought it was a great role and thought it was outstanding, because I'm Chinese and it's Bruce Lee, but I'd be happy to play that role," he said.

Later, we asked Seth Rogen about approaching Chow, who answered, "It's a very intense action movie and the relationship between Green Hornet and Kato, a lot of comedy comes from that. At first actually, we weren't even sure going in we could be more of a Jet Li type guy who maybe isn't the funniest guy in the world, but he's physically very impressive, or whether it would be more of a Stephen Chow type guy who can do martial arts, but clearly has a sense of humor. In the version that we've made it seems like a Stephen Chow type guy would be more suitable for the role. Again, until they officially greenlight it, it's hard to make any of those decisions."

This is amazing news. Probably the best news I've heard for a movie since they cast Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. Stephen Chow has directed some of my favorite marital arts movies is recent years, and made them really sharp comedies as well. You may be asking yourself, "Eric, why are you cutting and pasting an article I could have just checked out myself. Surely, since I come to read your blog, I'm one of those people that must check out news such as this from clearly superior web sites." You are certainly correct on both assumptions. I'm sure you have checked it out yourself, and I'm sure they are vastly superior web sites, considering this is a blog supported on a fairly modest blog-hosting website. No, I'm not blogging about the article per se, but the people who are commenting about said article. Really, I'm only doing this because I couldn't bash them appropriately on the comment board, so I thought I'd bring them over to my home turf. The quotes are from the Coming Soon.net article comments. First off:

Posted by: Steve the Dude on September 19, 2008 at 17:14:15

It's official: This will suck !!! Neither Seth Rogen or Sterphen Chow come even close to filling the
shoes of Van Williams and BRuce Lee. This news is disgusting. This has GOT to be stopped. NOW !!

Dude's an ass clown. Spell Stephen right, asshole. Also, I don't think you could come up with a better cast for Green Hornet. Hornet was a campy tv show from the 60's, like Batman was. Not nearly as campy, but the Chinese guy (playing a Japanese guy. Ain't that perfect for the time period.) played by my hero Bruce Lee, did most of the fighting. The car's name was Black Beauty...uh huh. I'm sure what this douchebag is thinking is that Kato's gonna get a chick preggers after a night at the bar and get his chest hair pulled off as he screams obscenities and the whole things gonna be some adolescent quest for booze. Give the guys some fucking credit, dick. They clearly know what they're dealing with, so I'm pretty sure they'll get it right. They got Stephen Chow, for Christ's sake! You couldn't find a guy more dedicated and respectful to the legacy of Bruce Lee than that guy. One of his character in Shaolin soccer was wearing the Game of Death track suit, after all, and looked exactly like Bruce Lee at certain angles. The mannerisms, the whole shabang, too. They should probably get that guy, but Stephen Chow has appeal and stardom. The movie will probably do wicked amazing in China. So no, they're not shitting on the Green Hornet. They're probably doing the best thing they could ever put together for something like this. So shut the fuck up, you cum-guzzling fucktard. Plus, who's that angry at 5:17 in the morning? Sheesh.

Posted by: Anakin on September 19, 2008 at 19:20:17

I'm with Steve the Dude on this. This has failure all written over it until they can find an unknown martial arts actor that can properly fill in Bruce Lee's part.

This guy's a douchebag for all the reasons described above, but I can at least give the guy a little credit for suggesting an unknown for Kato...except for the fact that they got Stephen Chow for it. Go suck Steve's little dude, Anakin.

Obviously, there's too many other factors that go into this being a great movie, and casting isn't the only thing that makes it. Maybe the script will be a stoner buddy comedy like Pineapple Express. Maybe these pricks are right, and Rogen, Even, and Chow are going to basically take a huge dump on what Bruce Lee fans such as myself cherish. I wish Kevin Smith was working on it like was initially planned, but if you can't get Smith, you get Rogen. They're almost the same guy, except I'm sure Kevin Smith's older and more of a geek. The funny thing is, though, that Rogen's in Zach and Miri Make a Porno, directed by Smith. Aw well...I have no doubt that Green Hornet will be good. It's an incredibly out-of-left-field thing to do, I think, what with Marvel and DC heroes being the big thing nowadays. I have my fingers crossed, though.

Sorry I didn't write an article earlier like I said I would, but shit happens and I wasn't feelin' too great that day...or the next, so my apologies to anyone reading this thing. Anyways, see ya later folks.