November 02, 2009
October 31, 2009
MARTIN CAMPBELL TALKS GREEN LANTERN EFFECTS
In an interview with The Coventry Telegraph, director Martin Campbell discusses the challenges he'll be facing in terms of the visual effects for Green Lantern. "It's daunting," he said. "Just the process, something like 1,300 visual effects shows, it's mind-blowing, quite hoenstly. A lof of the special effects shots work will concentrate on the Green Lantern power ring. It's energized by a batter on the planet Oa, which taps into the willpower of everyone in the universe. From that ring you can form constructs. So if you got into a fight, you could form a giant fist or a fighter plane."
In the same article he discussed the appeal of shooting the film in New Orleans, with production beginning in April. He also sang the virtues of GL being different from other superhero characters: "He's the only superhero to my knowledge who regularly goes to another planet. Superman and Batman were essentially locked into a particular city. The Lantern isn't so Earthbound."
May 30, 2009
March 19, 2009
FROM STARSHIPS TO LANTERNS: CHRIS PINE AS GL?
The rumor burning its way around the Internet is that Chris Pine, who reaches movie screen May 8th as James Tiberius Kirk in J.J. Abrams' relaunch of Star Trek, has been offered the role of Hal Jordan in the Green Lantern movie. That film, scheduled for release on December 17, 2010, is supposed to begin shooting in Australia this September.
Whether it's true or not is difficult to discern at this point. It was only a couple of weeks ago that the rumor was that Anton Yelchin was being approached for the part, but that proved to be unfounded. Thankfully. As talented as Anton is, and audiences are looking forward to seeing is portrayals of Pavel Chekov in Star Trek and Kyle Reese in Terminator: Salvation, he's simply too young for the part of test pilot Jordan, who is deemed by the dying alien Abin Sur a man without fear and thus worthy of wielding the ring of the Green Lanterns. So could Pine pull it off? Absolutely, if everything we've heard and the footage we've seen of him in Star Trek are indicative of his performance as a whole.
In comparing Captain Kirk with Hal Jordan, it doesn't take long before you realize that both are characters of a similar ilk. Kirk may use a phaser while Jordan utilizes his ring, but as characters -- men of action who will face any challenge put before them as they keep the universe safe -- they're more similar than they are different. No evil shall escape their sight!
March 15, 2009
PRODUCER BRUCE TIMM TALKS "GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT"
Green Lantern: First Flight producer Bruce Timm is giving a lot of credit for the look of the film to primary character designer Jose Lopez. “Jose has a completely different design sensibility than I’ve been used to working with,” Timm enthuses. “He’s a little bit anime flavored, but his style is not just specifically anime. We brought Jose in to do some designs on Green Lantern, and he ended up being pretty much our entire character design department. He ended up designing not just Green Lantern and most of the major characters, but zillions of background aliens and zillions of Green Lantern core characters. He brought a very unique design sensibility to the movie.”
This movie, he emphasizes, unlike the previous entries in DC’s series of direct to DVD films, is much more of a science fiction film than people might expect. “We spend maybe 10 minutes on earth in the beginning of the movie and the rest of it takes place in outer space and in several different alien environments,” he says. “Jose designed hundreds of unique aliens and species for all of these different polyglot worlds. And they are all really cool – some of the designs are just really out there. There were times when I saw the designs and I said, ‘Wow, what am I even looking at? You’ve got to be kidding me.’ They’re eye-opening. Both Lauren [Montgomery, director] and I encouraged Jose to think way outside the box – and he did. He came up with some truly weird, bizarre life forms and it’s really interesting and really good.”
March 12, 2009
"FIRST FLIGHT" DIRECTOR LAUREN MONTGOMERY ON CREATING GL DISTINCTIONS
One of the challenges facing Green Lantern: First Flight director Lauren Montgomery was a means of really drawing distinctions between the different members of the Green Lantern Corps, each of which utilizes a power ring and the power of their minds. "Each one has a different personality," she says, "and the rings are ruled by their will. It's up to them to decide how they're going to use it in each situation, and I'm sure they have training and they know the basic ideas of what to do in this situation, but Hal Jordan is kind of the guy who improvises the most. So we tried to use that to distinguish him from the rest of the Green Lantern Corps in that he is the most imaginative and creative, and that's what makes him stand out. Of course each of the Green Lanterns can use it in their own way. Sinestro uses it in a very unitarian way -- any shape he needs to get the job done. Whereas Hal will go and make some big, elaborate construct just to do the tiniest of things. It's just part of his personality. So we wanted to distinguish their personalities with that."
March 10, 2009
"GREEN LANTERN" TALK WITH PRODUCER DONALD DE LINE
While promoting I Love You, Man to the press, producer Donald De Line was asked by Collider.com's Steve Weintraub about the live-action Green Lantern film, beginning with whether or not the film would be a more "straight-up" superhero film. "It is absolutely a big action/adventure piece and fantasy, obviously, as we go into space with the Green Lantern. And it's Hal Jordan. It will absolutely have a sense of humor as well, [but] character-based humor. So it's not dark in that regard. I would say the tone absolutely wants to live in that kind of a world [like Iron Man]."
Then, when asked whether this film was a definite go, De Line said, "It is definitely going as much as anything is in the movie business right now. We're in pre-production. We have Martin Campbell directing it. We have our production designer and costume designer. We're heading off to Australia to scout next week. It's on the release calendar. I feel like we'd have to do something really wrong to stop it from happening. But I think we're absolutely going to keep it on track."
"RAGE OF THE RED LANTERNS" IN REVIEW
by Marc Jaxon SPOILER WARNING!!! There are spoilers, SO, if you haven't read any of these and don't want to know what happens, DON'T READ THIS. Otherwise, enjoy. This covers the "Rage" storyline throughout the end of "Final Crisis" and Green Lantern issues #36 - 38.
"War of Light", "Blackest Night" Preview
If you read Green Lanterns, you know that there are now several different colored Corps, each with its own members, Oath, rings, and emotions. The variations range from Red and Rage to Violet and Love. Somewhere around the corner there is brewing a Black Corps as well...Death!
If you haven't read Green Lantern or the Corps in a while (or ever), please, pick them up. With Geoff Johns at the helm of writing, Ivan Reis on pencils and Oclair Albert and Mei Ruffino's color-work, the stories jump. Visually vivid and dynamic, texture and showing are phenomenal. Lighting, background cell placement are top notch.
Within the first issue or the arc, the "Final Crisis" tie-in, we see the beginning of the Red Lantern Corps, starting with Atrocitus of the 5 Inversions. Aptly called so, as a millennia ago the Guardians’ original protectors, the Manhunters, massacred all sentients in space sector 666. Atrocitus and five others were kept alive and imprisoned on the planet Ysmault. After the deaths of the other four survivors, Atrocitus is seen swimming in a pool of blood, where the crimson liquid crystallizes and solidifies into the first Red Ring. As a Red Battery grows from the pool, Atrocitus recites the Red Lantern Corps Oath; "With blood and rage of crimson red...ripped from a corpse so freshly dead...together with our hellish hate...we'll burn you all, THAT IS YOUR FATE!"
March 08, 2009
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: "GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT" WRITER ALAN BURNETT
With the release of Green Lantern: First Flight on DVD this summer, GL is starring in his first film along with other members of the Green Lantern Corps. While on one level it would seem that the Lanterns are all pretty similar in terms of their abilities, First Flight writer Alan Burnett says the differences come in the ingenuity of each Lantern.
"You're only as good as quickly as you can think," he says. "It's all connected to personality. Hal Jordan being a jet fighter with split second responses, makes him ideal. Hal is a fast responder; he's quick on his ring.
"I really see this film as a science fantasy," Burnett adds. "The thing about Green Lantern is that his powers are almost magical. The original Green Lantern from the '40s even looked like something out of Aladdin's Lamp, but the modern version of Green Lantern has a lot of science fiction going for him. But there's still that quality of mind magic going on that take sit away from being a straight science fiction hero."
Of all the Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan remains the most popular. "I think a lot of people my age grew on Hal and they like going back to the original," he muses. "He's been through a lot of drama in the books, which people have followed. Since he's the original, people just gravitate back to him."
For more of Burnett's views on Green Lantern: First Flight, just click HERE.
EXCLUSIVE: DIRECTOR LAUREN MONTGOMERY ON "GL - FIRST FLIGHT"
There are rumblings that DC/Warner Bros. may be thinking about an animated Green Lantern series to go along with their live action film coming out in December 2010. In the opinion of director Lauren Montgomery, her animated film, Green Lantern: First Flight, could easily serve as a pilot for such a series. "That's because this is essentially Hal Jordan getting into the Green Lantern Corps," she says. 'Once he does, there's any number of adventures he can go on and galaxies he can police. The Green Lantern Corps is kind of the perfect scenario to have a series or follow-up movies down the line. He doesn't by any means completely win at the end. He hasn't eliminated all evil from the galaxy."
March 04, 2009
A NEW EMERALD DAWN
SOURCE: New Straits Times (Malaysia)
DATE: February 28, 2009
AUTHOR: Rizal Solomon
The official word came out this week. Warner Bros has announced that the studio will release a Green Lantern movie on Dec 17, 2010. Martin Campbell, who helmed Casino Royale, is set to direct.
It's very cool news. Green Lantern has a rich mythology and some of the best-written heroes and villains in comics. Also, Green Lantern has franchise written all over it. You can begin with a series of movies about the most famous of Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan, and then spin-off with the other Lanterns. Warner Bros has a good record of treating the comics it adapts with respect. The Dark Knight was outstanding. Even the flawed Superman Returns had its moments.
The current Geoff Johns written Green Lantern comics are classic. They elevate an already beloved character to new heights.
Briefly, the Green Lanterns are a kind of intergalactic police force made up of sentient beings from all over the universe. Led by the powerful Guardians of the Universe, essentially powerful little blue people the size of Yoda, they try their best to do good. They've been doing this for thousands of years. Each Green Lantern is powered by a green power ring and this makes the Lanterns one of the most powerful warriors in the universe. As mentioned, one of the most famous of the Green Lanterns is Hal Jordan, from earth. A flawed, noble character, he's survived terrible personal tragedy to emerge stronger. At one point, he got possessed by an ancient alien entity called Parallax that feeds on fear and went on a killing spree until he redeemed himself in an act that cost him his life.
The Green Lantern comics has a publication history that spans more than half a century, but to make things easy for you, here's a list of the Green Lantern books you should check out. Green Lantern: Rebirth
This is the one that started the current renaissance and is a must-read. It's very accessible, even if you have never read a Green Lantern book in your life. Rebirth makes it easy for you to jump on and enjoy the ride. Hal Jordan has passed on and his spirit lives on in the form of a cosmic being known as The Spectre. Since Jordan feels responsible for the countless deaths while he was possessed by Parallax, he uses the Spectre form to atone and help people.
Redemption is a big theme in Green Lantern and how we move on after something tragic happens forms one of the main engines of the larger story. It's no secret that the graphic novel sees Jordan resurrected and the Green Lantern Corps is reborn to battle the resurgence of the ancient evil alien entity known as Parallax.
The reward is seeing how gifted writer Geoff Johns brings about the rebirth of Jordan and the Corps. The book has a lot of heart. It connects with you on an emotional level and makes you care about the characters while offering a rollercoaster ride of sci-fi action.
Green Lantern Corps: Recharge
A fantastic debut to the spin-off series that follows the reformed Green Lantern Corps in the wake of Green Lantern: Rebirth as it proceeds to recruit new members. We're introduced to a host of new Lanterns and some returning fan favorites. Each Lantern has his and her own emotional and psychological baggage and their personalities and stories are sculpted out superbly. Some have to overcome prejudices and personal tragedy to become the hero the universe needs them to be.
You'll get goose bumps in that big, brutal battle between the Corps and a fearsome alien army in the finale. The new characters grow on you and by the end of the book, you're sorry to see the graphic novel end. You'll probably find yourself hunting for the subsequent Green Lantern Corps books for their ongoing adventures.
Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War Volume 1 and 2
Epic. That's the only word to describe this story. It's like Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers rolled into one. The story takes place on a titanic scale.
Sinestro, a former Green Lantern mentor of Hal Jordan who turned bad, returns and begins building an army armed with Yellow Power Rings. They seek to enforce order on the universe through fear. The Green Lanterns oppose them and an all-out war breaks out.
A fantastic read with perfect payoffs for fans. The Rebirth and Sinestro Corps War graphic novels can be seen as the first two parts of a trilogy. The upcoming Green Lantern: Blackest Night completes the trilogy.
Green Lantern: Secret Origins
Now, this latest graphic novel to hit the shops is a very important piece of the mythology. Writer Geoff Johns turns the clock back and retells the origins of Hal Jordan and how he came to be a Green Lantern. This is important because we see the relationship between Jordan and Sinestro in a mentor-student light.
The origins of the terrifying alien cabal called The Five Inversions are revealed and this will play a huge role in the Blackest Night storyline coming up this summer.
February 28, 2009
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: GREEN LANTERN - FIRST FLIGHT DIRECTOR LAUREN MONTGOMERY
Although director Lauren Montgomery has had plenty of experience in the world of animation, most recently in the direct-to-DVD releases of Superman: Doomsday and Wonder Woman, her next effort, this summer's Green Lantern: First Flight, represents a move that is a bit more sci-fi-centric than average superhero fare.
"I know that sci-fi was a direction that [producer] Bruce Timm wanted the whole time," says Montgomery in this exclusive interview. "Sci-fi Green Lantern, not necessarily superhero Green Lantern. It's not like he's got this moral mission. Hal Jordan's this guy who happened to come across this ring and he basically becomes a space cop. That's how Bruce summed it up: 'Green Lantern, Space Cop.' I think when he's in space and he's working directly for the Green Lantern Corps, he has to go by their rules. He's not necessarily allowed to make up his own rules -- even though he's Hal Jordan and he kind of does that anyway. If he feels it's right and the Guardians are telling him it's wrong, he's probably going to do what he thinks is right. I think maybe when he's on earth, more of the superhero aspect comes out, because he's elevated above men.
"The scope of this movie was challenging," she continues. "We're trying to make it feel like it's a vast universe and we wanted to make the Green Lantern Corps feel like it's got a huge number of Green Lanterns to cover that vast universe, but when it's animation, you have to draw each and every one of them. We tried to make it feel big, but we still have our own limitations -- we have to stay in the budget and we only have so many people available to draw all these characters. Getting that feel is difficult, but I think we were able to pull it off pretty well."
Look for more from Lauren Montgomery on Green Lantern Film.net this coming Monday. In the meantime, check out additional exclusive quotes from her right now over at Comic Book Movie.com.
February 27, 2009
THE CASTING RUMORS CONTINUE
According to a report that was posted on the Latino Review, the casting rumors for Hal Jordan are really starting to kick up. LR says that long-rumored Ryan Gosling has turned down the role, as has Emile Hirsch (whose last film was Speed Racer). The name being bandied about now is Anton Yelchin, who will be co-starring this summer in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek as Pavel Chekov and McG's Terminator Salvation. Nathan Fillion's name was thrown around for a time, but LR says that the Firefly, Castle star is too "geezerly" for the role. Fans apparently don't agree. In the feedback section, they're pretty blunt in their feelings that Yelchin is completely wrong for the role of Hal Jordan, and that the best possibilities are Fillion and Farscape/Stargate actor Ben Browder. Considering there's a releast date of December 17, 2010 with Martin Campbell being lined up as director, one would imagine the role will have to be cast soon. For the complete Latino Review story, click HERE.
February 26, 2009
GREEN LANTERN UNFILMED: AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH GARY SCOTT THOMPSON
The Green Lantern film has been in development for about a decade and there have been a number of people involved with it over the years. One of them was Gary Scott Thompson, screenwriter of The Fast and the Furious, creator of the series Las Vegas and executive producer/showrunner of the new incarnation of Knight Rider. In this exclusive interview, he reflects on his time with the project, revealing his approach and what he found intriguing about the character.
February 25, 2009
FROM THE ARCHIVES: GREEN LANTERN/ALIEN
The following interview with writer Ron Marz was conducted back in 2000 while he was working at the now defunct CrossGen Comics.
Ron Marz believes in responsibility. The proof lies in his exclusive contract with CrossGeneration Comics, which he made sure had a clause allowing him to complete work he'd previously committed to for Dark Horse Comics. Interestingly, that same sense of responsibility dramatically informs one of those projects, the upcoming four-issue GREEN LANTERN/ALIENS mini-series written for both Dark Horse and DC Comics.
Prior to joining CrossGen, Marz spent seven years writing the exploits of Green Lantern, specifically Kyle Rayner, the Green Lantern who succeeded Hal Jordan after Hal had a nervous breakdown and turned his power on the Guardians of the Universe and the entire Green Lantern Corps. He's also dealt with the Aliens before, having written the BATMAN/ALIENS crossover, and his additional credits include the BATMAN/TARZAN crossover as well as the current STAR WARS mini-series STAR WARS: DARTH MAUL based on the popular Sith Lord.
February 24, 2009
October 13, 2008
MARC GUGGENHEIM UPDATE ON GL MOVIE
Newsarama has posted an interview with Green Lantern co-writer Marc Guggenheim, who, while promoting the second season of ABC's Eli Stone, spoke a bit about the forthcoming superhero flick.
"It's pretty far along," he said. "We're reasonably deep into it [Green Lantern]. I'm never really comfortable publicly commenting on the movie because unlike the TV show, I'm just one of three writers and I've sworn a blood oath to secrecy. But we're in the thick of it. We're moving along at a pretty hefty clip... I think the nice thing is that there's always been a great love of this character at the studio. And the kind of summer we just had, with movies like Iron Man and Dark Knight, makes a fertile marketplace for all comic book movies, quite frankly. So the timing could not have been better for us." To read the full story, click HERE.
October 11, 2008
WELCOME TO THE CORPS
While Warner Brothers has announced a number of projects based on DC Comics’ characters that have essentially gone nowhere – Wonder Woman and Justice League are the two most recent that come to mind – it seems as though Green Lantern will be the first one to actual be brought to cinematic life. Tentatively scheduled for a 2010 release, Green Lantern is to be directed by Greg Berlanti from a script by Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green. Look for Green Lantern Film.net to be a clearing house of sorts for news and rumors on the film, as well as a source of comprehensive coverage of the Green Lantern Corps in various incarnations.
October 09, 2008
RYAN GOSLING AS HAL JORDAN?
According to Latino Review, reliable sources have claimed that Ryan Gosling could be in the running for the lead role of Hal Jordan in Green Lantern. An acclaimed actor, Gosling is known for bringing character integrity to roles in such films as The Notebook, Half Nelson and Fractured. When interviewed about the latter, he discussed a less than heroic hero, which may possibly be similar to the Hal Jordan we meet at the beginning of Green Lantern.
“I liked the character," Gosling said of that part. "Willie’s a character that, most movies like
this, in this genre, they’re like really virtuous guys - like natural
heroes waiting to come out,. And this guy’s not.
He’s not good. He’s not a good guy, and he never really is. He’s the
good guy in the movie because he’s better than Anthony’s character. But
he’s not really that good and he’s not bad, and he’s okay with that. As
long as he’s not a bad guy he can live with it. He’s just naturally
kind of a narcissistic, self-obsessed, selfish guy with tons of
ambition. He’s kind of put in a situation in this movie where if he [spoiler deleted]
for a promotion, he’s going to officially be a guy he doesn’t want to
be, so he reluctantly does the right thing. In the whole film doing the
right thing is kind of a pain in the ass for him, and he never makes
some kind of huge moral shift. He just reluctantly walks that line, and
I thought that that was probably more realistic.”
Obviously this doesn't have a lot to do with Hal Jordan, but it nonetheless provides an insight into the actor's thought processes.i
