We have been tracking development on The Green Hornet for a couple years now, and boy has it been a fun ride.  A bumpy one, too, but star Seth Rogen and his co-writer Evan Goldberg have pushed through the mire every step of the way to deliver their passion project.  Stephen Chow has to drop out?  Sign Michel Gondry!  Nicolas Cage doesn't want to be the bad guy anymore?  Get me Christoph Waltz!  Think we need to escape the holiday shuffle?  Awesome, we'll be a hit in January!It's finally here, and I have every reason to expect an enjoyable final product in theaters on January 14, 2011.  The last leg of the promotional push from Columbia has turned inward -- first a featurette in late December, now some neat behind-the-scenes photos.  Check out the images after the jump.I cherrypicked my favorites, most of which involve Kato or the Black Beauty.  The LA Times has a few more behind-the-scenes photos in the gallery worth a look.

Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), son and heir to Los Angeles’ largest newspaper fortune, is a rich, spoiled playboy who has been happy to maintain a direction-less existence. When his father James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) dies, Britt meets an impressive and resourceful company employee, Kato (Jay Chou). They realize that they have the resources to do something worthwhile with their lives and finally step out of James Reid’s shadow. Kato builds the ultimate weapon, The Black Beauty, an indestructible car with every weapon imaginable and Britt decides that in order to be heroes, they will pose as villains. With the help of Britt’s new secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), they learn that the chief criminal in the city is named Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz). He has united all the gangs under his power, and he quickly sees that the Green Hornet is a direct threat to the prosperous criminal underworld he controls.