Martin Campbell, the man who helped 007 get his swagger back, is reportedly in talks with Warner Bros. to direct the upcoming live-action Green Lantern flick.
With movies like Casino Royale, Goldeneye, and the two Zorro films under his belt, Martin Campbell has proven that he can take established heroes and turn them into box office hits. But will he be able to do the same for Green Lantern?
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If he accepts the job, Campbell will certainly have a lot on his plate. The Green Lantern script, which was written by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green, dives right into the origin story of “Silver Age” Green Lantern (test pilot Hal Jordan), who is chosen by a dying alien to be the bearer of an emerald ring which can manifest anything the wearer wills it to. The script sets a massive scale for the movie, including huge intergalactic battles, a slew of crazy visual effects and some pretty wicked action sequences set right here on good old Earth. Let’s hope Campbell is ready to play in the mega-big leagues.
Will Martin Campbell direct the Green Lantern movie?
This news about Warner Bros. eyeing Campbell to helm Green Lantern does come as a bit of a surprise, since it was rumored for awhile that the film’s co-writer, Greg Berlanti, was likely to direct. But considering the small-scale directorial work Berlanti has done in the past (mostly TV and one rom-com movie), it’s understandable that Warner Bros. would want a director who is more tried and tested on the big-budget scale to handle Green Lantern. This film is going to cost a lot of money to make, let alone market to all those people who aren’t familiar with a second-tier superhero like GL.
Don’t fret though: Greg Berlanti still has plenty to be happy about. He will get a co-producer credit for Green Lantern, and Warner Bros. has already handed Berlanti another film to helm, an adaptation of the Jonathan Tropper novel, This is Where I Leave You.
So, what’s the verdict? Is Martin Campbell the kind of director you think will do Green Lantern proper? Sound off and let us know!
Green Lantern is still being fast-tracked for a 2010 release.
Source: Latino Review
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20 Comments
This news about Martin Campbell is great! I love what he did with the first Zorro film, and Casino Royale was a great movie. He also directed one of the greatest episodes from “Homicide: Life on the Streets,” “Three Men and Adena.”
I’m hoping Campbell signing on would be a sign the movie will be grounded in the character and not overtaken by the special effects.
He’s not without his duds, though (Vertical Limit, Legend of Zorro, etc.), so even though I’m happy about this news, I’m not going to get carried away.
This is very good and relieving news. GL is in very good hands.
I agree Ash. If he can bring that same kind of visionary scope he did to 007, GL could be a great movie. Here’s hopin’ it actually happens.
I hope this is true .
Sounds good to me. This should be a great film.
I have a comment that won’t post and there is no reason why it should not..What’s up?
just hope it’s not the hand held shaky camera feel like he had going for Casino Royale..I think he’s a great choice for this film as it will be epic in scale and budget…WB should start an online campaign for this similar to TDK and Watchmen to increase the awareness of the character to those who are unfamiliar with GL…I thought the DC animated movie Justice League:New Frontier did an excellent job with the Hal Jordan origin and giving GL his chance to really shine in the spotlight…This is in my top five of movies I have wanted to see made for the last 20 years…Right up there with Spider-man, Watchmen, Flash, Avengers and Justice League…Man this is certainly the Golden Age for comic book movies…It’s a great time to be a fan of the genre…
That is awesome news and I would’nt worry about marketing a second teir character. I worked for Iron man
Aww, no,horrible idea! Not that he wouldn’t make a good Green Lantern film, I think he would be able to make a great Green Lantern movie, but I want him available to do the next James Bond! I can’t wait for another Bond movie as good as Casino Royale! I really liked Goldeneye as well.
@greenknight
I’ve gone through the spam folder and pulled out your comment. I don’t know why it was flagged, but it wasn’t the only one.
Vic
Yes! Good news.
The pros:
We now have a director who we know can handle the big budget stuff and has lots of experience under his belt, even a few great films (loved that Zorro film!), as opposed to Berlanti who seems to be well intentioned but inexperienced.
The cons:
Does Campbell really care about Green Lantern? How much does he care? Does he care more than Berlanti or at least as much? I hope so. If he cares at least as much as the people who wrote the script do, then we will have one helluva film. I think he will and will do a great job, and we’ll have Berlanti, who co-wrote the excellent script (which I have read and would love to spoil for y’all sometime!), producing the film so I think it will be fine.
Oh, and I loved Goldeneye. Casino Royale was good but not a fave of mine cuz it’s a different type of Bond. Not that that’s bad or anything, I just like the more swauve, “cool” Bond as opposed to the bouncer Bond in the current films. But Casino Royale was a good film. I like this guy.
Once you scrub away the speculation on who’s going to star, direct, screenwright, cater, etc, I just have to say I hope this ends up being a good film/franchise.
The Green Lantern Corps is rich with some really amazing characters amd it would be a huge disappointment to the fans if Warner didn’t take this seriously.
On the off chance any of you folks at WB are reading this and wondering if GL will be a viable film, consider this:
I work at a major department store in the Seattle Metropolitan area. Eight out of every ten men that I have spoken with in the last two months regarding the GL movie have said they would definately see it. Of those with children, all responded that they would take their kids as well.
Simply by mentioning the *possibility* of a Green Lantern movie in conversation with no marketing tools, promo stills or trailers to help me out, I found over 300 people- many with children- who are looking forward to this movie.
Also of note was that only 13 of those people had even heard that there was a rumor that it may be produced.
Here’s something I did not realize: Martin Campbell also directed the “Zorro” films. While I haven’t seen the second one, the first was a lot of fun and had a good mix of action, suspense, drama and humor.
This is looking better and better…..
@Kevin
Did he direct the first Zorro? That must’ve gotten past me – I thought that was a great, fun film.
Vic
@Vic
Yes, he did direct both Zorro films.
I liked the first film, that was really good. I also thought Golden Eye was great, Casino Royale was OK.
GL is in decent hands.
This is really good news!! Martin Campbell is an awesome Director! Green Lantern deserves to have a serious director! I would like to see Daniel Craig in 1 more Bond movie then I want to see Chewitel Ejiofor as the new James Bond.
can’t wait to see the green lantern movie! its gonna be awesome! it would be great if mr. campbell directed MASADA. the story of the jews last stand against the roman empire.
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