Let's be honest, Green Lantern
was something of a disaster. You'll hear some people(not just the studio execs) trying to fudge you into thinking it did okay, but they're employing some serious fuzzy math. The stone cold fact is that the film did worse than every other superhero movie this summer. With a production budget said to have ballooned past $200M, it only took in $150M. That's not domestic. That's globally. Yikes. No matter how you slice it, Warner Brothers can't be happy about that, and I'll be surprised if somebody's head didn't roll.Yet there's still been talk of a sequels to the adventures of newbie Green Lantern Corps member, Hal Jordan(Ryan Reynolds). The possibility of a pair of follow-ups has been on the table for months, with writers Marc Guggenheim, Greg Berlanti, and Michael Green brought on to outline a story. How exactly will that go? Will they ditch the tone that couldn't decide if Green Lantern should be played for laughs or for genuine emotion? According to producer Jeff Rubinov, it sounds like the plan is to go dark and go dark now...
“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.”
Ugh. "Grim 'n gritty". Look, Green Lantern isn't Batman, so trying to go that route is a piss poor decision. What they need to do is provide a script that actually gives us a reason to care about anybody. Stop making Hal Jordan look like an irresponsible flyboy(which he isn't). Make Coast City a character in it's own right. Superman has Metropolis. Batman has Gotham. You have to give Coast City a way of being distinct. I'm totally with Rubinov on finding a way to balance the earthbound action and the space faring stuff. Honestly I'd almost prefer the sequel take place entirely in space. Give us a chance to explore the universe right along Hal Jordan.
As for Martin Campbell, the director has made it pretty clear that he wants no part of a sequel, even though his contract gives him the option to do it. It sounds as if the WB execs weren't all that happy with his work, and I don't blame them. But if Campbell, who is a solid filmmaker, couldn't make this work should we even have a Green Lantern sequel? Really?
It's probably going to be necessary cog in the Warner Brothers machine on their way to forming a Justice League movie in the near future. The pieces are slowly coming together, what with Green, Berlanti, and Guggenheim working on a script for The Flash. With The Dark Knight Rises wrapping up Batman's big screen story, and Superman not even off the ground yet, maybe the best plan is start everything over from scratch? Green Lantern included. [LA Times]
