In 2011 there was a lot of excitement about The Green Hornet getting a movie makeover, and initially Seth Rogen and Jay Chou might be pretty good as Britt Reid as Kato. However, Michel Gondry’s movie turned out to be pretty ropey, and got bad notices from both critics and audience. It did however make over $220 million at cinemas around the Globe.

Paramount seems to think the world has already forgotten about that movie enough, as they’re already working on a new, rebooted version, which has Gavin O’Connor to direct, according to Deadline. O’Connor most recently helmed The Accountant, and was also behind the camera for the likes of Jane Got A Gun, Warrior and Pride & Glory.

The Green Hornet follows a rich young man who becomes a kung-fu fuelled crimefighter, along with his sidekick/chauffeur Kato. However, while earlier incarnation have all had a campy side, it seems O’Connor is planning something a little grittier.

He says, ‘I’ve been wanting to make this movie — and create this franchise — since I’ve wanted to make movies. As a kid, when most of my friends were into Superman and Batman, there was only one superhero who held my interest — The Green Hornet. I always thought he was the baddest badass because he had no superpowers. The Green Hornet was a human superhero. And he didn’t wear a clown costume. And he was a criminal — in the eyes of the law — and in the eyes of the criminal world…

‘I’m beyond excited to bring The Green Hornet into the 21st century in a meaningful and relevant way; modernizing it and making it accessible to a whole new generation. My intention is to bring a gravitas to The Green Hornet that wipes away the camp and kitsch of the previous iteration. I want to re-mythologize The Green Hornet in a contemporary context, with an emphasis on story and character, while at the same time, incorporating themes that speak to my heart…

‘When we meet Britt Reid he’s lost faith in the system. Lost faith in service. In institutions. If that’s the way the world works, that’s what the world’s going to get. He’s a man at war with himself. A secret war of self that’s connected to the absence of his father. It’s the dragon that’s lived with him that he needs to slay. And the journey he goes on to become The Green Hornet is the dramatization of it, and becomes Britt’s true self. I think of this film as Batman upside down meets Bourne inside out by way of Chris Kyle [American Sniper]. He’s the anti-Bruce Wayne. His struggle: Is he a savior or a destroyer? Britt made money doing bad things, but moving forward he’s making no money doing good things. He must realize his destiny as a protector and force of justice by becoming the last thing he thought he’d ever become: his father’s son. Which makes him a modern Hamlet. By uncovering his past, and the truth of his father, Britt unlocks the future…

‘Britt’s shadow war background makes him a natural at undercover work. This is connected to his military backstory, which is more CIA Special Activities Division than SEAL Team 6. He’s cross-trained in intelligence work and kinetic operations. A hunter at the top of the Special Operations food chain, working so far outside the system he had to think twice to remember his real name. We will put a vigilante engine under the hood of his character’.

Sean O’Keefe will write the script, although at the moment it’s not known when we might see the movie.