…at least, it believes in the first $53m dollars worth of you.
It seems most commenters have been skeptical at best about the prospect of a second Green Lantern getting off the ground, perhaps expecting WB to promise a follow up and then quietly ignore it until everyone forgets. WB head Jeff Robinov is still drawing attention to the franchise though, as he assurea the LA Times that it will go forward, despite its mere $150m worldwide total. Along with that, he says some dumb things and some less dumb things:
“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.”
Yes and no, buddy. I think many would agree the first film hit the right tone (however sloppily) well enough, with the bigger problems being generally shitty plot screenwriting, under-written characters, and yes, poor balance of the terrestrial and cosmic sequences. So I’m glad everyone at WB can see the plain fact that Green Lantern is a half-baked, off-balance mess, but “edgier and darker” isn’t going to do shit. I would think the immediate disdain for the Spider-Man reboot trailer would hint that low-key lighting and angst is not necessarily the path to good buzz (further enforced by the strengthening impression of Spider-Man from Comic Con, where the footage wasn’t all dourness and melancholy).
As much as we might hate to admit it, going forward with Lantern is still a natural move. Clearly they’d need to cheapen production a bit, but you can build a more successful sequel on top of modest start. We’re just now seeing studios introduce these more esoteric superheros as part of the modern blockbuster model, and there’s a chance that things like Lantern and Thor (which obviously had a much better start) will take a bigger hold their second time around, having gotten their foot in the cultural door. We’ll just have to see.
Robinov didn’t cough up the info, but LAT also has good assurance that the long-standing outline for a sequel developed by the first film’s writer will likely be scrapped, or completely overhauled. No shock there. Also not from Robinov’s mouth is that director Martin Campbell’s return is very much up in the air. Word is the studio isn’t keen on his return, nor did he seem to be particularly enthused before the first film’s release. I doubt he’ll be back, contract stipulations or not.
Is there any chance WB can rebuild something out of
nothingvery little for a sequel? Have any bright ideas beyond making it more Dark Knight-like? I’m sure they’d love to hear them, as would I. Twitter, boards, or comments below if you wish.
(via /Film)
10 comments
Sometimes studio executives strike me as the dumbest fucking people on the planet. They see something work in one movie and think it’s some kind of universal formula that can simply be plugged into any other movie to generate a hit. You know what was a big hit? “Jaws”. Because people just love sharks. Maybe have the Green Lantern fight a giant shark. No way that can miss.
INSTANT REBOOT!
Nope, you’re wrong.
People love giant spiders.
Put a giant spider in the film and boom-it’s a hit!
Please don’t bring back Martin Campbell.
Oh no, not good. Green Lantern should be anything but “edgier and darker”. Green Lantern, along with the Fantastic Four is best when it hits the goofy cosmic levels and rides that tone all the way. I am all for a GL sequel, but it does not need to be cookie cutter. That’s what makes the comics so appealing and enduring.
I didn’t care for Green Lantern, but since there making another regardless it might as well be better. I don’t think a darker or edgier Lantern is the key, but at least there slowly recognizing the flaws of the first film! NEW WRITERS PLEASE!
I can’t wait for the grim and gritty My Little Pony movie. And the dark and edgy reboot of Dennis the Menace. And Smurf with a Shotgun. Yeesh!
The My Little Pony Wu Tang mix worked quite well so a grim and gritty one could go gangbusters. Voice it with the Wu Tang and watch the dollars roll in.
Giant
The only way to make this successful is to go balls to the wall crazy sci-fi outer space shit. Otherwise, it will just be the same crap again.
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