Official Green Lantern News & Discussion Thread - Part 10

[HighFivingMF]

It is a failure. The numbers don't lie.

I said "more."

 

[Supermanreturns]

Mark Millar on comic-book movies, Green Lantern and DC movies:

I plan to focus solely on creator-owned for AT LEAST the next couple of years and so these trends are important. It's essential that nobody comes along and messes up the very successful system we've had for the last decade or so. But we have to keep things in perspective. Any Chicken Littles screeching about Green Lantern being a flop and ruining everything must look at the big picture and remember it's far rosier than any other genre. Our track record in comic book movies has been incredible since Goyer and Norrington changed the game with Blade, Singer carried it through with X-Men and Sam Raimi slam-dunked with Spidey. In the decade that followed we've had monster hits from almost unknown characters. Iron Man sells around 40,000 copies a month, but a combination of a fun script and very clever casting turned it into a $500 million grossing beast. Last year's sequel hit $650 million and these numbers don't even include DVD. The X-Men franchise has managed over 2 billion dollars in 5 movies and Spidey and Batman are the biggest of the lot. Check out www.boxofficemojo.com and it's very heartening to note that superhero and comic book adaptations have an incredible consistency for turning vast profits. There's the occasional dud like Catwoman and Jonah Hex, but these tend to be the exceptions rather than the norm and rare examples of unknown writers and directors being attached to characters traditionally coveted by the Hollywood A-list.

Three superhero movies have been out this summer and, bar GL, the others have done fine. Thor cost 150 mill and looks set to settle at around half a billion dollars. X-Men cost about the same and will probably sit around 350. Add in DVD and SPECIAL EDITION DVDs and these are in serious profit. Thor, we must remember, is another semi-unknown character in the mainstream and featured no bankable names. In this context, it's done INCREDIBLY well and X-Men had the disadvantage of no Wolverine (face it, nay-sayers, he's the best there is), a period piece and no actors recognised from the previous trilogy. Given these facts, it's another success as they're essentially starting from scratch with these prequels. The only genuine flop I think has been Green Lantern, which is a genuine shame and not for lack of love from the people involved. Nobody sets out to make a bad movie, but the non-Batman DC characters just don't seem to work in modern cinema and TV. I've loved these characters as far back as I remember, but whether it's Wonder Woman or Superman or the Aquaman pilot or Catwoman or Jonah Hex or Birds of Prey or whatever... they just don't seem to catch on in the modern world. I think it's hard to compete with the new characters (or even the more recent Marvel characters, created a full generation later). Batman works because he's more human for the big screen and more empathetic, but I fear The Flash and others would just meet the same fate as Green Lantern. They're just too outrageous to provide tension in a live action format and I'd love to see them done, Pixar style, as brilliant, theatrical animated movies. Aquaman talking underwater would have us wincing in live action. In a cartoon we wouldn't even blink. Some stuff just doesn't suit the format. Imagine instead Paul Dini and Bruce Timm getting 120 million to play with on a big Incredibles-style JLA movie!

In short, GL is a blip. It's registered because a 200 mill plus budget and 100 mill marketing campaign means they needed to make 600 mill to break even (after cinema costs are recouped) and will be lucky to crack 250 worldwide. But like I said we need to keep this in context and remember that even the Fantastic Four movies made a big profit. Hollywood is still very much in love with superheroes and will continue to be so until they consistently start losing cash. Next Summer? It's The Avengers, the sequel to the Dark Knight and a Spider-Man reboot I've heard nothing but great things about.

Source: http://forums.millarworld.tv/index.php?/topic/98078-2011-superhero-movies/

 

[SuperDaniel]

I wonder how the hell the budget for GL is that HIGH. It doesnt look that it cost that much money...

 

[dnno1]

Those are from estimates from outside sources (whomever that might be). I am sure that inside sources will say something different.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Yes, probably it was more expensive than the studio estimates on BO. They wouldn't be lower.

 

[Poni_Boy]

I wonder how the hell the budget for GL is that HIGH. It doesnt look that it cost that much money...

See, now you're getting it

 

[The Sage]

I don't agree with Mark Millar.

 

[dnno1]

So are we going to have two mods in this forum from now on? (BTW, I don't agree with Millar either).

 

[dnno1]

You shut your mouth when you're talking to me!


Anyway, three things I keep thinking about that really irk the **** out of me. We never got Hal Jordan's most iconic looks

1) No full shot of him wearing his dad's jacket (one brief scene in his car, that's it)

2) Not one shot of him in the GL suit holding the battery (or even touching the damned thing)

3) No "charging the lens" pose. There are more comic covers with that pose than practically any other.

May as well throw in that the only "ring charge" we go was a love tap in front of Tom

The film was certainly loaded with a lot of Easter eggs, though.

 

[Showtime]

Who cares what Mark Millar says about anything.

 

[mcallima]

I don't agree with Millar's assertion that DC characters can't work in live action, but I do agree that the DCU animated films need bigger budgets and better talent.

 

[DaveMoral]

I honestly don't see what about Green Lantern doesn't work "in the modern world." That's just silly. Is the suggestion that people can't accept a magic ring that grants powers derived from a metaphysical energy field? But they can accept mitochondria rip off cells that grant powers from a metaphysical energy field?

Is the magic ring a problem because it's a contemporary setting rather than a medieval fantasy setting? They can accept a magic lamp from Aladdin but not a magic lantern for GL?

I think that's BS. The problem with Green Lantern, aside from some obvious issues in the film itself(that did not stop it for being a really fun afternoon at the cinema for me in the least), was the marketing. They started with a teaser I believe a couple other trailers that played up a comical aspect, then they switched to a more ominously toned space fantasy strategy. Neither of which was entirely the case. They promoted confusion, and botched the teaser with unfinished FX, and then delivered a relatively weak, if fun for many, film.

 

[GoblinWhirlwind]

The thing with me is that the later trailers, especially that 4 minute footage, they made everything seem really serious and dramatic... and then the movie ended up having the general non-serious tone of Fantastic Four or something, with the exception of Sinestro.

 

[protocida]

Speaking of "The New Frontier", maybe that's the way to go for DC Entertainment. Release The Man of Steel and The Dark Knight Rises and then make Justice League: The New Frontier, set in modern day. Expand Superman's role, have Batman in his small role (Maybe Christian Bale could return), and re-introduce Wonder-Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter. Leave Aquaman for the sequel in order for the movie not to get too convoluted and replace Argent for Checkmate, with King Faraday and Amanda Waller in command.

 

[DaveMoral]

GL was so bad ass in New Frontier.

 

[GoblinWhirlwind]

That'd be pretty awesome, protocida.

 

[Herolee10]

Speaking of "The New Frontier", maybe that's the way to go for DC Entertainment. Release The Man of Steel and The Dark Knight Rises and then make Justice League: The New Frontier, set in modern day. Expand Superman's role, have Batman in his small role (Maybe Christian Bale could return), and re-introduce Wonder-Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter. Leave Aquaman for the sequel in order for the movie not to get too convoluted and replace Argent for Checkmate, with King Faraday and Amanda Waller in command.

The problem with that notion is that Nolan has firmly established and stated that "HIS" batman exists in a world where he's the only "superhero" present, and I doubt that Bale would portray Nolan's version of Batman in any film that wasn't directed by Nolan himself.

The same was said about Cavill's Superman by Snyder.

 

[dnno1]

Who cares what Mark Millar says about anything.

I guess "Kick Ass" fans.

 

[protocida]

Snyder's Superman is only stand-alone because Nolan is whiny when it comes with crossovers.

 

[HighFivingMF]

Snyder's Superman is only stand-alone because Nolan is whiny when it comes with crossovers.

And bless Nolan for that.

 

[Poni_Boy]

The film was certainly loaded with a lot of Easter eggs, though.

Besides the Star Sapphire ones and a Coast City billboard (I didn't see that but Geoff Johns said it was there), what Easter Eggs were there?

 

[HighFivingMF]

Besides the Star Sapphire ones and a Coast City billboard (I didn't see that but Geoff Johns said it was there), what Easter Eggs were there?

Parallax imprisoned on the Planet Ryut in the Lost Sector, where Atrocitus used to live until the Manhunters wiped out the inhabitants I guess.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Who cares what Mark Millar says about anything.

Agreed!

 

[Poni_Boy]

Parallax imprisoned on the Planet Ryut in the Lost Sector, where Atrocitus used to live until the Manhunters wiped out the inhabitants I guess.

The thing is that's not an Easter Egg, it's an important part of the film. An Easter Egg is a throwaway reference for fans (i.e. Cap comic in IM2, "Journey into Mystery" billboard in Thor)

 

[Saitou Hajime]

If they were getting TV writers to do the script, they should've just gotten the showrunners for the new Doctor Who. They do great with multiple-demographic appeal, complex mythologies, and epic scopes.