I'd rather have a good.... no forget good, an excellent Green Lantern film which can be remembered for years to come like Superman The Movie, Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 1 and 2, X2, etc.
This.
At least Marvel has the liberty to have their **** right. At this point for WB it's inexcusable to continue crapping on DC's properties like this. They really have no clue what to do with these properties and don't care for them anyway. They want to make a fast buck but ironically they could make mega bucks giving these properties to the adequate talent that cares enough to present them properly. Ie: BATMAN.
Batman got lucky a couple of times with directors and writers that at least cared enough for the material to present it with some grace (Burton/Hamm, Nolan/Goyer).
Other movies based on DC published (keyword:
published; not necessarily mainstream DCU) properties worked for the same reason. The studios that handled them greenlit them with filmmakers that respected the material enough to present them with some grace and quality. Like
A History of Violence, Stardust or
Road to Perdition for example. Ironic then that the studio with actual major stock IN DC comics can't do the same.
They can't ever find any talent with the same passion towards their other mainstream DCU properties outside of the Bat or at least they don't try to. I'm sure somewhere in Hollywood exists a writer or director who will never be passive of the massive potential of the GL property. Or someone who would've gone out of their way to give fans a
Jonah Hex movie they could be proud of and the general audience a damn good modern western.
Too bad they'll never get a chance. WB just dishes the DC joints out to hired guns that don't really care about the material. Some talented people but people who are not invested enough in any of this material at all to give it their best at all & do it with an obnoxious apologetic tongue in cheek style cause "it's based on a comic book".
Too bad they just don't GET it as they have no idea of the real value of what they're trying to exploit. To be honest if the ball was severely dropped as it's said to have been I wouldn't be mad if this tanks altogether and kills the future of DC based films for good. For the simple fact I've been more of a DC guy all my life; I love these characters too much to see them being handled so poorly and beneath their big screen potential. I rather they not make any movies outside of Batman at all if that's the attitude they're going to roll with.
I'm watching this at a Sunday matinee cause due to the bad WOM and how I see a major dropoff coming after a predicted modest at best 60 mill or so opening it will probably be the only GL movie I'll probably ever get in my lifetime. I've been reading the books since the days of Gerard Jones & am a unabashed fan of the character and his world. For that reason I will see it on the big screen cause I'll never see any of these guys there again it seems. My expectations are severely low but nevertheless I'm there.
However it can't be a lie that everybody just says that it was wasted potential. A proper GL movie would've been a freaking gold mine; seriously. Would've cost way more to make than this version sure but it would've been an investment that would've paid off for years.
That's the ironic part. They tried to hard to make the material "accessible" to general audiences by rushing through and attaching people who didn't even care when in the right hands it could've made more money as we the readers of the comics know the true worth of this property.
Presented right in it's full blown all out space cop galaxy spanning glory (75% GLC and or space based adventures not this 75% on earth stuff) this could've been a real winner. With a Hal Jordan embracing his fate and actually enjoying helping out around coast city and his sector in the first movie. If you want also have him under Sinestro's mentor ship. As opposed to chickening from his destiny for most of the movie leading to zero suspense & lots of boring filler since you know he'll embrace it anyway & reducing Sinestro to an over-glorified cameo at best.
Then eventually it would've turned into a lucrative franchise that could've contained 4 different trilogies with 4 different humans in the lead not just 1 like the other superheroes. A great distinction from other comic properties and a lot more money in the bank cause of it. Then a series of films with all those characters in one movie plus all their alien peers that would've brought in even more green.
Could've been something monumental for comic book films. Something that could've lasted as long as Bond. If they had not rushed this and treated it with the proper care. If they had given opportunities to those truly passionate about this material. They could've had a REAL franchise starter and money maker on their hands.
Get a clue Warners.