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News: Warner Bros. Announce Ingenious Plan To Save GREEN LANTERN Franchise!

Written by Kris Heys Wednesday, 03 August 2011

Things to Come - News

When Warner Bros announced back in June that despite the poor critical reception and equally disappointing box office they were still going forward with a GREEN LANTERN sequel, many believed they were just trying to save face. Not so, it seems…

Talking with the LA Times today, Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov had this nonsense to dispense: "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 balance the time the movie spends in space versus on Earth."

As someone who really enjoyed the first film (and there are quite a few of us, particularly in Starburst HQ), this is saddening news indeed.

Surely they're focusing their energies in the wrong direction - one of the elements of the film I particularly enjoyed the most was the fact that it didn't need to be "dark" and "edgy", and simply embraced the comic book aesthetic wholeheartedly and unapologetically. This was a pretty unique approach to a superhero movie given so many other filmmakers desperation to ground their properties in some kind of 'reality'. We're all capable of suspension of disbelief - comic book fans especially. To hear a studio back-track so dramatically on their vision for a character is truly upsetting. Not everything needs to be THE DARK KNIGHT. Not even The Dark Knight needs to be so DARK KNIGHT-y (admit it, without Ledger TDK is a little on the dull side). Hell, why don't Warner Bros not just pop into the next multiplex screen and have a look at what Marvel are doing? Was THOR "dark" and "edgy"? Did that shy away from the cosmic stuff? No. And I believe that did alright.

Sure, GREEN LANTERN wasn’t perfect. But that’s what you get when you go ahead with a structurally weak screenplay and a director who hands all the action sequences (on an action film) to a second unit (I’ll never forget Martin Campbell saying that during his publicity duties for GOLDENEYE. Unbelievable.)

I simply can't believe what DC are doing to themselves these days - both in their big screen output and their comic books. Truly upsetting.

Expect the "edgier, darker" GREEN LANTERN 2 sometime in 2013. But with significantly less 'space stuff'. Y'know, the reason why it made it so unique in the first place.

We know the GREEN LANTERN love is out there somewhere! Join us! It was a decent movie! Let's rise up! Show them! Altogether now - In Blackest Day, In Darkest-- Never mind. Thoughts?

Comments

+1 #4 Robin Pierce 2011-08-05 15:30

Marvel did an excellent job with one of their second tiers - Iron Man. By the time the film was released, just about everyone wanted to see it, but DC's marketing seemed to be off target. The damage did by the comedic lightness of the first trailer (which seemed to turn the hardcore geeks off) wasn't repaired by the grittier second trailer. The public, bless 'em - had NO idea what to expect from two startlingly different toned trailers for the same film. I guess with ticket prices being what they are, they weren't about to take the risk. I bet Green Lantern will do well on DVD though...

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0 #3 jim 2011-08-05 14:12

That's true Robin, for a long time while putting the site together I thought this was something about a Zoolander sequel from the pics.

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0 #2 Robin Pierce 2011-08-05 13:57

As a long time GL fan, currently revisiting the early years courtesy of DC's Showcase sereis - I loved that movie. It gave me everything I wanted to see in a GL movie and I wasn't disappointed in any way. If anything, I'm convinced that the poor critical reception was due to indifference purely because they didn't know who GL is as he's a second tier character, unknown to Joe Public. The build-up to redress this wasn't enough. They needed to do more to raise awareness.

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