green lantern Tagged Articles at Cinematical

By: John Gholson

It's strictly a rumor until he signs on the dotted line, but Ain't It Cool News reports that Jackie Earle Haley is the frontrunner to play Sinestro in Martin Campbell's upcoming Green Lantern movie. It's an interesting casting choice, but as a longtime Green Lantern fan, I think I pictured someone a little more slick--not as rugged as Haley--to play Green Lantern's arch-enemy.

For those that are unfamiliar with the character, Sinestro is a power-hungry member of the space-faring Green Lantern Corps, chosen to train Hal Jordan (played in the upcoming film by Ryan Reynolds). Sinestro eventually turns against the Corps and faces off against his pupil.

Read the rest at SciFi Squad

In a very surprising move, Ryan Reynolds has won the much-coveted lead role in Warner Bros. live-action version of Green Lantern. We reported earlier this morning that Reynolds was up for the role alongside Bradley Cooper and Justin Timberlake, but thought he'd be a long shot considering the fact that he was also gearing up for a solo Deadpool spin-off. But Green Lantern is definitely a better (and more popular) role for him, and Warners probably liked the fact that Reynolds comes with a nice healthy package full of good looks, charisma and physical force. Dude is huge, he's proven he can handle the superhero stuff (ie: Deadpool in Wolverine), and he's at that sweet spot in his career where something like this could turn him into the next Christian Bale.

Lantern fans will probably agree that he's the best choice, though I'm not crazy about actors who double-dip in the comics world, and I can see people wanting the actor to stick to either one or the other. Production on Green Lantern is set to start in January, with Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) at the helm. The Green Lantern is currently scheduled to hit theaters on June 17, 2011.

So what do you think of Reynolds in the role? Can he pull off both Lantern and Deadpool?

Green Lantern fans have had to endure a long and painful slog for their comic to see its way to a big screen adaptation. It's not over quite yet, but we might be inching closer to the finish line.

The latest man to contend for the director's chair is Martin Campbell, who's still coming off Casino Royale and just completed Edge of Darkness, also known as Mel Gibson's acting comeback. The previous candidate for the job was screenwriter Greg Berlanti, but Warner Bros. most likely chickened out of giving a tentpole comic book project to a guy with only The Broken Hearts Club to his name as a director. Berlanti's screenplay is still the one Warners is working with.

Campbell, by the way, is possibly the most inconsistent filmmaker in the business. Not only is he capable of making films that are fantastic (Casino Royale), and mediocre (Vertical Limit), and dreadful (Beyond Borders), but he can go from hugely entertaining to ass-boring within the same franchise. (I'm thinking, of course, of The Mask of Zorro and The Legend of Zorro). At least the anticipation won't bore you: you really don't know what you're gonna get.

Of course, one possibility is that Watchmen comes along and ruins all other superhero movies the way The Wire ruined all other cop shows, and then I'll care about Green Lantern about as much as I care about CSI (uh, not at all).

First, dear readers, let me get a little rant off my chest -- why can't the mainstream media run the quotes from tireless movie sites like Collider instead of preposterous casting rumors? Sure, it's fun and harmless, but they embed themselves into the public consciousness to the point that you'll be hearing "Eddie Murphy is going to be the Riddler!" at your watercooler for months. But this is real Batman news!

Now, let's read that news, directly from Warner Bros' president Alan Horn, who emphasized again that Batman is taking a break. "We've been talking to Chris Nolan and what we have to do is get him in the right place and have him tell us what he thinks the notion might be for a great story, but Chris did a great job and we'd love to have him come back and do another one ... The story is everything and we are very respectful of Chris. We have a wonderful relationship with him and we are going to be respectful of his timing and we want to get it right. Also, I think the fans expect that – they want us to make a terrific movie – we have to give them another great movie."

Last month, Elisabeth shared some concept art for the upcoming Green Lantern movie, and she mentioned the possibility of it being on par with Iron Man. For that to happen, there would have to be a pretty dynamic star in the driver's seat. So how about Ryan Gosling?

A Latino Review source at Warner Brothers has said that the studio wants the Lars and the Real Girl actor to wear that glowing green ring. Now, the concept art I referenced might look a little bit beefy for the thin star, but Hal Jordan was modeled after Paul Newman, at least partially, so Gosling would be a pretty good match for that (should the green dude be Jordan). But even more importantly -- Gosling knows how to make the strange seem natural -- he made a heartfelt and funny film where he was in love with a flipping Real Doll. If he can do that, he can make the green look just as cool as RDJ made Iron Man, and give the same excellent depth to the portrayal.

It's also miles above Seth Green, Justin Long, and David Boreanaz. Agreed?

It's a quiet day on the news front -- mostly casting rumors shot down before I even had a chance to hear them. Now I get to do the same to you, readers!

• Will Smith is, for the last time, not playing Captain America. Rumors of Smith playing Cap were everywhere (including here) and it wasn't as crazy as it seemed. The first Captain America was African-American, after all, and the clunky title The First Avenger: Captain America could suggest they would honor that mythology. But they're not -- not only did Ain't It Cool News debunk it earlier this month, but Smith has confirmed it. In fact, he told MTV he hadn't even heard the rumor.
  

• David Boreanaz is not the Green Lantern. Rumors flew that he was in consideration, as his face was used in the concept art, but as Hal Jordan is 27 and Boreanaz is in his late 30's, he's believed to be too old. (So that happens to actors as well as actresses? Good to know.) Latino Review has a script review up -- I'll refrain from posting anything here as it's kind of spoilerish but in short, they love it. For those avoiding the spoilers of LR, I'll leave you with a quote from The Pulse's chat with the film's writer Marc Guggenheim. He was fresh off the rewrite, and promises that it's "an incredibly faithful rendition of the character."
  

• Brett Ratner says he was once part of the J.J. Abrams Superman -- and tells MTV that he'd like a crack at the Warner Bros reboot, especially if they are really going for a dark and edgy take. Will the film unexpectedly switch from day to night halfway through to illustrate this darkness?

• A Paramount preview in London let fans peek at GI Joe and Star Trek. The former was iffy, with the action being stylized, typical of Stephen Sommers, and complaints of the character development being "terrible." What was seen of Trek suggested "immense fun." I am chomping at the bit to see some footage of that flick -- and despite having once worn a Star Trek: The Next Generation uniform, I am the furthest thing you can find from a Trekkie.

Sparse offerings indeed, readers. What will we talk about? How about arguing whether or not Boreanaz has enough of a baby face to play Hal Jordan? Or how you knew G.I. Joe wouldn't be very good? Fire away!

Isn't that the most exciting headline? My mind is whirling with images of Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash showing up to some remote mountain location and saying "Where's my movie?!"

Unfortunately, the goings-on at the summit are a lot less glamorous, but if you're a DC fan they might be nearly as exciting. According to Variety, Warner Bros and DC are busy charting a course for their superhero franchises, trying to decide which hero or what franchise to kick into high gear. While Marvel Studios is announcing origins and crossovers left and right, Warners is still holding onto their DC characters, and finding themselves unable to take the big screen plunge. Even the two they've shoved out the door are about to languish -- Christopher Nolan hasn't committed to a third Batman film, and Superman is wondering why he ever bothered returning. (Though the rumors swirling around the Man of Steel this week suggest he may be a big part of Warners' new strategy.)

They have been in a similar predicament before. Five years ago, Warners was getting ready to hire someone just to oversee their DC movies, aware they could lose an entire generation of young geeks if they didn't get going. And while they did manage Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Watchmen, it's just not enough. While there's no real indication of what their strategy will be, expect the studio to start buckling down and decide what to do with the Justice League.

So, Cinematical readers, which DC property are you hoping they'll concentrate on first? As you can probably guess, I favor Wonder Woman. I think it would be a huge statement for them to concentrate on such an iconic female superhero when no one else has. But based on the persistent comments that pepper my inbox, I'm betting that it's a close call between her and the Green Lantern. Sound off, my friends.

Finally, some good news for all those DC fans! Producer Donald DeLine talked to the boys of CHUD about the long languishing Green Lantern film. While nothing has kicked into high-gear yet, the future is bright for Hal Jordan.

DeLine confirmed that Jack Black is no longer attached to the lead role, which should make all fans sigh with relief. And it is no longer being touted as a comedic movie. Isn't it nice when Hollywood wakes up and realizes they've wasted time on a really dumb idea?

They are currently awaiting the first draft of a script by Greg Berlanti, which DeLine was hopeful would be on his desk very soon. They are looking to make it a sensible origin story of Hal Jordan, with all the heroics and aliens the story requires. Okay, I'm guessing on the alien part, but I don't really see them changing that.

Nor has the death of Justice League Mortal affected this Green Lantern movie -- as seems to be the case with all the Justice League characters, since they were operating on completely different wavelengths.

If I asked you to name a half-dozen Marvel characters besides Spider-Man, Wolverine, and The Hulk, you'd probably have no problem. But if I asked you to rattle off six DC Comics superheroes besides Superman and Batman, your response might sound a little like this: "Well, The Flash, of course. And Wonder Woman. Oh, Aquaman! Um ... Green Arrow and Green Lantern, I suppose..." and then I'd rudely interrupt you with mentions of Hawkman and Martian Manhunter before you started shaking your head in either confusion or disbelief in my nerdiness. (I can never tell which is which.)

I know all about the Justice League movie problems and the inability to get Wonder Woman flying, but really: After seeing how well-received Iron Man was -- and after hearing about Marvel's plans regarding The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers -- I'm starting to feel a little bad for DC Comics' movie division. But here's the thing: As a character of popular culture, Iron Man (born 1963) is not exactly a Spider-Man or even close to a Superman -- and still Marvel and Paramount were able to bang a really excellent blockbuster out of the guy. (And let's not forget that a relatively obscure Marvel character called Blade pretty much kick-started this comic-flick renaissance.) Does anyone doubt that a character like The Flash could have similar results? Given the right cast and crew, I'm thinking The Flash could be one hell of a fun flick. So let's get moving already!