Universal Pictures, which has spent over $10 million since 1992 in a futile effort to bring The Green Hornet back to the big screen, let its option on the property lapse, which allowed  Disney-backed  Miramax Films to pick up the rights for a bargain basement $3 million.  The Green Hornet, which began as a radio serial in 1936, has spawned a long list of spin-offs including a television series (with Van Williams as Britt Reid and Bruce Lee as Kato), movie serials, and a popular series of comic books.

 

Universal retains the right to co-finance the picture (and share in the revenue) if Miramax can come up with a script and a package of stars that Universal likes, but basically this project, which was once very close to being filmed with George Clooney and Jet Li, is back to square one.  Still, if the next wave of comic-based films does well, don't count the Green Hornet out just yet, after all it's one of the few comic properties with a built-in buzz.