New Villain for 'Green Hornet'

When Nicolas Cage dropped out of negotiations for "The Green Hornet" it left a gap in the casting for the film's villain, and today it's been announced that Christoph Waltz has landed the role.

Waltz made a huge splash this summer as Col. Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" and may have earned himself an Oscar nomination. Should this casting come true it would be an impressive big break for the Austrian actor whom, I will dare say, no one in the States knew of before Tarantino's Basterds.

According to Deadline Hollywood, Waltz has been cast as Chudnofsky, the gangster who goes up against Green Hornet and his partner, Kato.

At the time, Cage was the leading candidate for the role, but talks broke down recently and the "Ghost Rider" star departed the project. No reason has been given for Cage's exit, but with filming already underway, it's no surprise the studio didn't delay in finding a new bad-guy actor to fill Cage's shoes.

So, with all of the principal characters cast, production in progress and a release date set, very little seems to stand in the way of "Green Hornet"—except for a little film called "Tron Legacy," that is.

"The Green Hornet" is set to hit theaters Dec. 17, 2010.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Deadline Hollywood, MTV News, Rope of Silicon, First Showing