Michel Gondry to direct 'The Green Hornet'

Michel Gondry

Credit: Franka Bruns/AP

Award-winning French director Michel Gondry is reportedly in negotiations to direct Columbia's "The Green Hornet."

The project, set to star Seth Rogen, had been rumored (heck, rumored by HitFix) to be in danger of stagnation after Stephen Chow stepped down as director.

Chow is still expected to remain on-board as Kato, sidekick and driver for the masked title character (alter ego of playboy Britt Reid), who will be played by Seth Rogen, who co-wrote the script with Evan Goldberg.

When Rogen was recruited as star and writer, it was considered an audaciously outside-of-the-box move and Chow's temporary flirtation as director was also seen as unconventional.

The addition of Gondry, reported simultaneously by Production Weekly and both industry trades, is just another indication of the quirky conception for the project, which is still viewed as a possible summer 2010 tentpole for Sony.

Directing credits for Gondry include "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (for which he shared a screenwriting Oscar), "The Science of Sleep," "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" and a recent episode of HBO's "Flight of the Conchords."

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