Seth Rogen recalls a crazy argument he once had with The Green Hornet producer Neil Moritz. Directed by Michel Gondry, The Green Hornet was a 2011 action-comedy remake of the 1960s show of the same name. It starred Rogen and Jay Chou as a pair of masked crime-fighters who team up after Rogen’s character’s father dies. Despite its famous cast and the beloved director at its helm, The Green Hornet was widely loathed.
Speaking on Earwolf’s How Did This Get Made? Podcast, Rogen reveals a crazy conversation between him and Moritz on the set of The Green Hornet. One day Moritz and Rogen, who have been longtime creative partners, were having “an argument over part of the movie” with them and others on set. As a rebuttal to his opposition, Moritz made one surprising argument as to why something should remain in the film, as Rogen details below:
I’ve worked with Neil Moritz. He produced The Green Hornet, and I produced The Boys with him, and Preacher, and I’ve done a lot of stuff with him over the years, so I know him pretty well. And when we were making The Green Hornet, there was an argument over a part of the movie. It was like me and Michel Gondry and him and Evan, my partner, all like, arguing over something. And Neil hit the table and he goes, ‘Listen, there’s logic and there’s cool and cool wins every time!’
Rogen’s recounting of the Moritz arguments brings out a couple of notable elements of The Green Hornet’s indisputable failure. For one, Moritz’s forgoing of logic in favor of what he perceives as “cool” explains The Green Hornet’s inability to follow believable plotting and characters. With scenes of feigned emotional honesty (such as in the infamous “Wanna See Something Cool”? scene) coupled with trying-to-hard action sequences, The Green Hornet does in fact scream of a desperate, failing attempt to be cool and different.
Secondly, this story is a great reminder of how successful some of those behind The Green Hornet were and are despite the failure of this film. By 2011, Gondry had already made his magnum opus with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in 2004, which remains one of the most celebrated independent films today. Prior to The Green Hornet, Rogen’s movies had proven his comedic talents with his roles in Freaks and Geeks, Knocked Up, Superbad, and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. And Moritz has been no exception, for he has continued to produce major films including this year’s Fast X.
Moritz’s attempt to be cool may have flopped hard with The Green Hornet, but somehow, Rogen and Moritz have maintained their working relationship. As Rogen states, the two have collaborated on a number of projects including the successful anti-hero show The Boys. Both creators will never escape mockery from The Green Hornet, but at least they have rebounded from the fated days of Britt Reid’s big screen break.
Source: Earwolf’s How Did This Get Made?