Did it concern fans of “The Green Hornet” at all that in the last week Nicolas Cage has signed on for two new projects, one, a 3D revenge actioner called, “Drive Angry,” and another, an underground vigilante revenge film (gee, original) called, ‘The Hungry Rabbit Jumps“?
Should it have? (We alluded to this a bit this morning, because it seemed obvious where this was heading).
Well, apparently Cage already starred in his requisite, “indie” or “creative” picture of the year during Werner Herzog’s “Bad Lieutenant,” because the actor has dropped out of Michel Gondry and Seth Rogen’s take on “The Green Hornet” which started shooting last week with Cameron Diaz and Jay Chou in Los Angeles. “Dropped out,” would actually be a misnomer. The actor was only ever in talks and negotiations with Sony — no scenes were ever shot — and according to THR he and the studio were not able to come to terms on a deal.
Sony/Columbia is now actively seeking a new thesp to play the main antagonist. Sucks perhaps for the film that is now hitting theaters December 2010, but really, was wackjob Nic Cage the best man for this gig? We’re not actively huge advocates for “The Green Hornet” project despite the winning pair of Gondry and Rogen, and are not sure who this film really is for, but surely they can get someone much more interesting and without the bloated salary demands. Who needs a name like his? How about someone who can really act, like a Jeremy Renner? But knowing Sony, they want a namebrand adversary and maybe, who can blame them.