You don't usually combine the Internet and old-time radio in the same sentence. Yet in the mid-1990s, the Internet helped revive dramatic radio! As people began expressing their interests by creating personal websites, linking with like-minded fans in webrings, and posting to newsgroups, they discovered that they could do far more than just "chat"! They could send image and sound files to each other, or post them on their sites for others to download! As home computers became more powerful and network capacity and speed increased, the files became bigger! What once were small jpegs and sound bites (like a single song), became huge pngs and pdfs and complete albums and podcasts! Now, old-time radio fans could send or receive complete episodes of radio shows (including many that had never been put on record or cassette)! Companies like Radio Spirits, which began by issuing shows on cassettes and cds, created websites where fans could order cds, or download digitally-remastered classic radio episodes! Streaming audio quickly followed, enabling listeners to enjoy shows without filling up their harddrives. An entire new generation discovered the "Theatre of the Imagination" as they began listening to classic radio dramas on iPods and other mp3 players while travelling or on laptops and desktops while working and studying! There were even attempts at all-new "classic radio"-style podcasts like Chicago Radio Theatre. Among the more popular series was...you guessed it...The Green Hornet!
About this time, a script for a new Green Hornet film began making the rounds in Hollywood with George Clooney and Jason Scott Lee (who had just played Bruce Lee in a biopic) as The Hornet and Kato. When that script ended up in Development Hell, Clooney left. Others writers and producers tried to come up with script and actor combinations, but none succeed in getting anything approved and financed by a studio. In 2004, cult filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks, the upcoming Red State) signed on to write and direct the project. Despite much publicity and comic fan interest, the project was shelved (but revived last year as a comic book, which we'll get to in a couple of paragraphs). In 2007, Seth Rogan proposed a new version with him as The Hornet. Noted Hong Kong writer-actor-director Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle) agreed to direct and play Kato, but bowed out due to "creative differences". Michael Gondry, who had tried previously to push his version of The Hornet, agreed to direct Rogan's script, a new Kato, Taiwanese singer-actor Jay Chou, signed on and production was about to begin when negotiations with Nicholas Cage to play the villain fell through. Luckily, Christoph Waltz (who won an Oscar as the heavy of Inglourious Basterds) agreed to step in and filming began!
Meanwhile... (as they say in the comics), Chicago-based comic artist Alex Ross (known for his award-winning work at both Marvel and DC) had been championing the idea of reviving long-dormant 1940s comics characters in new comic stories at publisher Dynamite Entertainment. His brainchild, Project SuperPowers proved wildly successful, with both an ongoing series and several mini-series! The publisher, who had also revived Zorro, The Lone Ranger, and Buck Rogers in successful titles, saw the sales potential in "classic comic characters" and wanted to do more! Ross agreed to provide cover art whenever possible to aid sales.
Dynamite arranged to do new Green Hornet comics...but with a twist! The first series would be an adaptation of Kevin Smith's unproduced movie script! Within six months, a host of currently-running Hornet titles followed, with several linked to the Kevin Smith version. Other books, unrelated to Smith's "take" on the character, included Parallel Lives (a prequel to the Rogan movie), Green Hornet Strikes! (set in a corruption-overrun Chicago of the future) and Year One (based on the radio/Golden Age comic/movie serial character)! Speaking of whom...In late 2009, VCI Entertainment released DVDs of both The Green Hornet and The Green Hornet Strikes Again movie serials, digitally-remastered, complete and uncut! (However, there's no sign of the tv series being commercially-released in the foreseeable future.)
There's loads of info about the new movie's turbulent production history all over the web, including the official website, so we're not going to repeat it here. Suffice to say, it's finally completed and in theatres all over Chicago! You can see it, starting today, in 3-D Imax, 3-D, or plain 2-D.
Before (or after) the film, you can visit any of Chicago's local comic shops and pick up Green Hornet goodies aplenty, including books, comics, dvds of the two serials, or cds of the radio shows! (Call first, because some stores don't carry everything.)
And let us know what you think. Don't be shy.
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