The Green Hornet is a craze that ran in the 1960s, having its own radio series, comic book series and, later, its own movie in 1966. It was recently picked up for a remake. Seth Rogen was cast to play the Green Hornet, and Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou was cast to play Kato, the Hornet’s sidekick. The role of Kato, however, was originally set to be played by Stephen Chow, who also was to direct the movie. Three months after this announcement, though, Stephen Chow left project for unknown reasons. Well, Seth Rogen is now shedding some light as to why that happened.

During a press conference in Cancun, Mexico, Rogen revealed that, “Stephen wanted to film it in a more comic-book fashion, which was different from what we intended… The Green Hornet has a fixed structure to it, like how Green Hornet and Kato are buddies and will work together to fight villains. This part of the story cannot be changed but Stephen wanted something different, so he had to leave.”

After the departure of Stephen Chow, Jay Chou was then cast to fill in for Chow’s part, while Michel Gondry filled in as the film director. Regarding Jay, Rogen said that, “He is the coolest person I’ve ever known. Even with Bruce Lee as his predecessor, he creates his own brand and version of Kato with his sense of humor and suave style… He’s a really talented actor and takes the effort to learn. Even though he’s a superstar, he doesn’t put on airs.” When the press began asking how Jay’s English was, Rogen immediately defended his partner by saying that, “His English is better than all of yours [the reporters].”

The Green Hornet is set to hit theaters on January 14th, 2011.

Source: MSN