Movies that were supposed to launch franchises (but didn’t): Green Lantern
It’s superhero movie season. But then again, what time of year isn’t these days? As we brace ourselves for the release of Zach Snyder’s Justice League next week, we’re looking back at the movie which was supposed to kick of Warner Brothers’ slate of DC Comics-based movies. Marvel makes it look easy with the success of their Cinematic Universe. But Green Lantern reminds us of everything that can (and did) go wrong.share
Warner Brothers had been kicking around the idea of a Green Lantern movie for decades. In the 90’s, they approached writer-director Kevin Smith about the idea. Smith had just had his script for Superman Lives rejected by Tim Burton and he had doubts about his ability to take on an effects-heavy movie like Green Lantern. Based on Smith’s filmography to that point, you have to wonder what Warner Brothers was thinking. Nothing Smith had made before or since suggests he has what it takes to direct a tentpole movie. But the suits at Warner Brothers have never understood the DC Comics properties, so they just assumed that as a comic book fan Smith would be qualified.
That’s probably the same thinking that lead to the studio approaching Quentin Tarantino. Can you imagine a Green Lantern movie written and directed by the auteur responsible for Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill? Tarantino wasn’t specific about his involvement in the project, but from his comments it seems pretty clear that the director would have wanted more creative control than the studio was willing to give him.
Then there was the infamous Jack Black Green Lantern movie. Robert Smigel, best known as the creator of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, wrote a comedic take on the character. His concept was that Green Lantern didn’t have to do anything to be a superhero. He was just a guy with a ring. So he wrote his script about a lazy reality TV star who is given a Green Lantern ring by accident. Jack Black initially turned down the movie, but he changed his mind after reading the script. Then word got out about the project and the negative fan reaction caused Warner Brothers to go in a different direction.
They turned to Greg Berlanti for a more serious Green Lantern script. Currently Berlanti is the show-runner on the CW’s slate of DC superhero TV shows. He teamed up with comic book writers Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim to pen a traditional superhero movie script. Originally, Berlanti was supposed to direct the movie. But instead, he was moved to a different project and Martin Campbell was hired to helm Green Lantern.
That decision is understandable. Berlanti had worked primarily in television. He may have been in over his head directing a big budget movie like Green Lantern. Campbell wasn’t an obvious choice either. He had never made an effects-heavy movie. But he had directed two successful James Bond movies launching the Brosnan and Craig eras with Goldeneye and Casino Royale. That experience suggests that Campbell would be collaborative.