Green Lantern 2 To Be A Darker, Edgier Film

Green Lantern had a reasonable (not great) opening weekend but was otherwise a creative and financial dud. It is an example of that strange studio phenomenon: a film that manages to feel both over-written, with villains and set pieces seemingly cobbled together from different script drafts, and under-scripted, thanks to the total lack of sense behind most of the character actions. And audiences didn’t respond, once the marketing gave way to word of mouth? Shocker.

Because that opening weekend was north of $50m, Warner Bros. is still planning a sequel. What will the studio’s approach be this time? A solid script that establishes a story with logical and emotional drive and then embellishes it with action? Pfft. Why bother, when it can just be darker and edgier? (Or Dark Knight-ier, as the case may be.)

Warner Bros. film group president Jeff Robinov told the LA Times,

We had a decent opening so we learned there is an audience. To go forward we need to make it a little edgier and darker with more emphasis on action… And we have to find a way to balance the time the movie spends in space versus on Earth.

There is already a script outline put together by Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim, all of whom worked on the first film. But the LAT reports anonymous sources saying that the outline could be changed or scrapped altogether.

And as for Martin Campbell, who directed the first? He has an option to direct the sequel, but WB reportedly doesn’t want him to be in the big chair. So there might be some backstage dealmaking to be done, but expect to see another name on the film in 2013 or so. (As we expected, really.)

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Temuera Morrison Recruited For Role In ‘The Green Lantern’

New Zealand seems to be the place to recruit men and women for your fantasy or sci-fi epics. Martin Campbell visited Kiwi country to round out The Green Lantern, according to THR’s Heat Vision, and Temuera Morrison and Taika Waititi have joined the cast in minor roles.

Morrison, probably best known to American audiences as Jango "Father of Boba" Fett, will be playing Abin Sur. Abin Sur is a member of the Lantern Corps, and crashlands on Earth. In his dying moments, he searches for a worthy soul to be his replacement and wield the ring. The Ring chooses the young and cocky Hal Jordan as the successor. Obviously it’s not a huge role this time around, but there’s a possibility Abin Sur could return for sequels as the comics have him popping back to assist Jordan in various ghostly ways. It should also be interesting to see how they choose to portray the bald and red-skinned Abin Sur. Heat Vision is silent as to whether it will be motion capture or the old-fashioned technique known as "make-up."

Waititi’s part is a lot less mythological, as he’s merely playing "the best friend" of Jordan. I’m going to make a semi-educated guess and declare that he’s playing Tom Kalmaku. Tom was an Alaskan Inuit, and given a rather racist nickname by Jordan’s fellow pilots. Other than that wince-worthy moment, he’s a pretty neat character as he’s one of the only people in Jordan’s life who knows of his Green Lantern gig. He’s a good wingman. And who knows? Maybe we will see Waititi become one of the New Guardians in this age of crossover movies. Filming begins this week, so begin the countdown to costume photos!

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DC’s ‘Blackest Night’s’ Reign Continues

Thanks largely to the success of its Blackest Night event, DC dominated the top ten once again with eight out of the top ten titles in November. Blackest Night #5 actually boosted its circulation by 5% with help from a special ordering incentive that featured seven differently colored "Lantern Promotional Rings." A similar promotion was potent enough to lift Booster Gold #26 into the top 25 at #19. Four other Blackest Night tie-ins, Green Lantern #48, Justice League of America #39, Adventure Comics #4, and Green Lantern Corps #42 all made the top ten.

The top Marvel title was Captain America: Reborn #4, which came in at #3, didn’t ship in November where its absence hurt the Marvel line-up, which couldn’t manage better than a seventh place finish. Marvel still managed to secure 14 out of the top 25 spots with 25th place going to the Thor Giant Size Finale written by JMS, which in spite of a slew of variant incentives (1:25 and 1:50), suffered an 18% decline in sales from the previous JMS issue (#603), which came out in September.

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Ryan Reynolds Signed As ‘The Green Lantern’

Ryan Reynolds has landed the coveted role of “Green Lantern,” getting the starring role in Warner Bros.’ live-action film based on the DC Comics hero.

Martin Campbell will direct. The studio is still working on the picture’s budget, but production is expected to begin in January.

The news caps off a memorable summer for Reynolds, who played Deadpool in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” a performance that prompted Fox to begin development on a spinoff film. Reynolds followed that by starring opposite Sandra Bullock in the romantic comedy “The Proposal,” which crossed the $100 million mark this week.

Warners and Campbell chose Reynolds, who vied for the superhero role along with “The Hangover” star Bradley Cooper and Jared Leto. The momentum built for Reynolds in the last week, as he was the only actor whose option was extended.

Greg Berlanti wrote the script with Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green. Donald DeLine will produce with Berlanti. Reynolds’ reps at UTA are working out his deal.

The actor will next star in “Buried,” a dark indie drama that will begin filming shortly in Barcelona with Spanish director Rodrigo Cortes. Reynolds will play a civilian contractor who is kidnapped in Iraq and awakes in a coffin, struggling against time to coordinate a rescue even though he doesn’t know where he’s buried in the desert. 

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‘Green Lantern’ Movie Pushed To June, 2011

About 24 hours ago, we wrote that Warner Bros. and DC Comics might be strongly considering Bradley Cooper from the upcoming comedy The Hangover for the role of Hal Jordan/Green Lantern in its next comic book endeavor. Now, Warner has bought itself a little more time to get everything just right.

Box Office Mojo reports that the film, originally scheduled for a December 2010 release, will now hit theaters on June 17, 2011. The studio has also moved Zack Snyder’s Double X chromosone action flick Sucker Punch from October 2010 to March 2011. And one more change: Mel Gibson’s comeback bid, The Edge of Darkness has been shoved off the ’09 calendar and will now be released on January 29, 2010.

There’s a connection between Green Lantern and Edge of Darkness: They’re both directed by Martin Campbell of Casino Royale fame. I doubt there’s anything more to it than that, though. It could be post-production on Edge of Darkness forces a delay in the filming of Green Lantern. Also, moving Darkness could just distance the movie from Gibson’s rather active private life at the moment. He’s already going to be something of a PR hurdle.

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Green Lantern Movie Set For $150 Million Budget, Filming In Sydney

Warner Bros has decided to shoot The Green Lantern at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney. THR is reporting that the film’s budget is around $150 million. To put that in perspective (and these are all estimated numbers…), Fantastic Four was $100M, Iron Man was $140M, Watchmen was $150M, The Dark Knight was $185M, X-Men: The Last Stand was $210M and Spider-Man 3 topped $258M.

But why Australia? The reported $150 million budget is worth a lot more in Sydney. The production was attracted by the decline in value of the Australian dollar, a 15% location rebate from the Australian federal government, on top of the incentives supplied by the New South Wales government.

The film is planning to begin in July with actual filming scheduled to start in November. The film is currently set to hit theaters on December 17th 2010.

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‘Green Lantern: First Flight’ Gets New Release Date

GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT GETS NEW STREET DATE

FIFTH DC UNIVERSE ANIMATED ORIGINAL MOVIE ARRIVES JULY 21, 2009 FROM Warner Home Video

BURBANK, CA, (April 6, 2008) – The street date for Green Lantern: First Flight, the fifth entry in the popular DVD series of DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movies, has shifted to July 21, 2009. A co-production of Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation, the illuminated hero’s first-ever full-length animated film will be distributed by Warner Home Video. Green Lantern: First Flight will be available as a special edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray™ Hi-Def for $24.98 (SRP) and $29.99 (SRP), respectively, as well as single disc DVD for $19.98 (SRP). Order due date is June 16, 2009.

Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) leads the cast as the voice of Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern. The cast includes Emmy Award nominee Victor Garber (Milk, Titanic), Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) and Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs). Produced by animation legend Bruce Timm, Green Lantern: First Flight is directed by Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman, Superman Doomsday) and scripted by four-time Emmy Award-winning writer Alan Burnett (The Batman).

Green Lantern: First Flight finds Hal Jordan recruited to join the Green Lantern Corps and placed under the supervision of respected senior Lantern Sinestro. The earthling soon discovers his mentor is actually the central figure in a secret conspiracy that threatens the philosophies, traditions and hierarchy of the entire Green Lantern Corps. Hal must quickly hone his newfound powers and combat the treasonous Lanterns within the ranks to maintain order in the universe.

Green Lantern: First Flight – 2 Disc Special Edition and Blu-Ray versions include more than three hours of incredible bonus features as well as a Digital Copy Download.

Chris Pine: From Captain Kirk to ‘Green Lantern’?

The superhero role that Ryan Gosling can’t avoid any more may have finally found a home aboard the Starship Enterprise. IESB cites a "very reliable source" inside Warner Bros. who says that the title role in Green Lantern might be played by Chris Pine. Pine will have his breakout performance this summer as James T. Kirk in Star Trek.

Green Lantern is one of the great DC Comics characters, and along with Wonder Woman, is probably the hero that needs a big screen adaptation before the comic publisher and Warner Bros. embarks on Justice League of America and other pet projects. Though there are a handful of Green Lanterns in the comic book, the film version will focus on Hal Jordan, the second and most popular incarnation.

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DVD Details Released for Animated ‘Green Lantern: First Flight’

ComicNews.info has a ton of information on the new animated Green Lantern: First Flight movie coming this summer to a home theater near you…

The fabric of intergalactic justice is threatened – until Hal Jordan arrives for his initial mission – in the animated Green Lantern: First Flight, the fifth entry in the popular DVD series of DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movies. A co-production of Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation, the illuminated hero’s first-ever full-length animated film is set for release by Warner Home Video on July 28, 2009. Green Lantern: First Flight will be available as a special edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray™ Hi-Def for $29.98 (SRP) and $34.99 (SRP), respectively, as well as single disc DVD for $19.98 (SRP). Order due date for all versions is June 23, 2009.

Acclaimed actor Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) fills the lead voice of Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern. Meloni is joined by fellow Emmy Award nominee Victor Garber (Milk, Titanic) as the villainous Sinestro, Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) as the voice of Boodikka, and Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs) as Kilowog.

Produced by animation legend Bruce Timm, Green Lantern: First Flight is helmed by heralded director Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman, Superman Doomsday) and scripted by four-time Emmy Award-winning writer Alan Burnett (The Batman).

Green Lantern: First Flight finds Hal Jordan recruited to join the Green Lantern Corps and placed under the supervision of respected senior Lantern Sinestro. The earthling soon discovers his mentor is actually the central figure in a secret conspiracy that threatens the philosophies, traditions and hierarchy of the entire Green Lantern Corps. Hal must quickly hone his newfound powers and combat the treasonous Lanterns within the ranks to maintain order in the universe.

Green Lantern: First Flight – 2 Disc Special Edition versions will include incredible bonus features such as: Read more

Green Lantern Movie Set For December 2010 Release

Here’s a headsup from G-Man over at ComicVine.com…

It is now official. Warner Bros. has announced the release date for the Green Lantern movie. Mark in on your calendar now…or wait until you get a 2010 calendar and then mark it. December 17, 2010.

The movie will be directed by Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale”) and is said to be about the story of Hal Jordan. Some concept art has already been seen, including what Oa may look like.

Co-writer, Marc Guggenheim has stated that he would love to include cameos. Obviously they are nowhere near ready for casting.

Start charging up your power rings.

Looks Like A Green Christmas In 2010 With Green Lantern

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