How Bad Could A Bad Green Lantern Be?

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 at 4:30pm
  • 36 Comments
 
How Bad Could A Bad <i>Green Lantern</i> Be?  

The regional scheduling of critics screenings for Green Lantern – in some cases, screenings will take place less than two days before the release of the movie, although there are screenings in NY and LA tonight – have resulted in just the latest round of rumors that the movie isn’t going to be that good. Which leads me to wonder: What happens if Green Lantern is a flop?

(For those wondering why Late screenings = Bad movie = Flop: Well, okay, that last one isn’t the case at all – There are plenty of bad movies that do remarkably well at the box office, and Lantern looks pretty safe in that respect, having both a name star and some 3D juice to ensure a reasonably strong opening night, even if it’s a terrible, terrible movie. But the late screening thing often happens when studios know that critics won’t like their movies, but want to lessen the impact of bad reviews on opening weekends. It’s not necessarily the case this time, because the movie only locked special effects last week, so the lateness of some screenings may just be a practicality coming from that. But still, it’s not necessarily a particularly promising sign.)

For DC Entertainment and Warners, it’s much more important that Green Lantern be a hit than be good. Obviously, having it be both would be the ideal scenario, but if there has to be a choice, DCE/Warners need the former more than the latter; for Green Lantern to flop is to fall at the first hurdle, and at entirely the wrong time – Not only has Marvel’s Thor outgrossed expectations (Barely, but it counts), but X-Men: First Class, not even a “real” Marvel movie, received better reviews that most were expecting, even if its opening weekend was a little flat compared with earlier installments in the series. It’s a summer that has demonstrated that the audience is still happy to watch superhero movies as long as they’re enjoyable, and DCE’s first venture into this world has been so hyped, and is being so watched by comics and industry viewers alike, that anything short of a hit will be… well, embarrassing to say the least.

Actually, let’s not just say the least. If Green Lantern actually flops, how will Warners react? After all, the same people already have Green Lantern 2 and The Flash in the works, and Hawkman is also getting ready to take off – Will those movies survive unscathed (or even just survive) if Lantern ends up being a total bomb? Does the failure of Green Lantern threaten the rumored Justice League film? Presumably, Man of Steel will be safe considering that it’s from the same producers as The Dark Knight, but will there suddenly be a swing towards lengthy, in-depth character pieces instead of bubblegum popcorn fare?

There is a ridiculous amount riding on Green Lantern. You can tell that from all of the discussion of every single thing about the movie, from whether or not Hal’s toes should be visible in the costume to – hey! – whether late previews mean that the movie’s going to fail. It’s possible that there’s so much riding on it that failure is literally not an option – that, even if the movie dies at the box office, the studio will have to pretend that it was a smash, a la Tron: Legacy. Those involved might want to hope that’s the case… otherwise they could find themselves in a truly uncomfortable position two weeks from now.

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  • http://twitter.com/MichaelSacal Michael Sacal

    If it sucks, they’ll just  reboot it like everything else they do that sucks and pretend it never happened and, like the suckers people are, they’ll pay to see the same movie twice, except that by then it’ll cost more to see it.

  • Paul

    I really hope it’s not a bad movie.

  • Anonymous

    I think the late screenings are just because of the effects. They’ve already had some and I’ve seen some positive buzz for it.

  • gordon

    Seems like the New York and LA screenings tonight call the premise of this post into question a bit. After all, if you’re trying to prevent bad reviews from getting out, aren’t those the last two markets you would want them to be appearing in? Especially if effects were just locked last week, how much earlier could they screen it?

    I’m not saying it’s going to be good. The footage I’ve seen hasn’t filled me with confidence. I’m just saying, you may be reading too much into the screening schedule.

  • SolidusSnake

    I dunno, the whole thing with Parallax seems kinda convoluted. I wish they would have just done an adaptation of Secret Origins, hell, maybe even Emerald Dawn. I guess we’ll see whether it’s any good once the 17th rolls around.

  • http://twitter.com/MichaelSacal Michael Sacal

    It’s good that the black cloud that played Galactus in Rise of the Silver Surfer is getting another shot, playing Parallax this time.

    It could lead to more roles. This could be to the black cloud what Pulp Fiction was to Travolta.

  • SolidusSnake

    Does that mean the black cloud’s career is destined to end in an ill-fated adaptation of a book by some sci-fi writer turned cult leader? Ah, now I feel kinda bad for ol’ Parallax :(

  • Coryjameson

    If everyone’s being honest with themselves, they’ll admit that the footage so far has been INCREDIBLY SILLY. From the midget “GUARDIANS OF THE UNIVERSE”, to the over the top ludicrous performance by Peter Sarsgaard(sic) and the laughably NOT CREDIBLE “actress” formerly of the OC soap opera or was it the wretched Gossip Ghouls, this movie just screams “lose”. How the hell did someone like Geoff Johns convince studio execs that this was a good mythos to bring to movie development??

    Whatever the origin of this catastrophe, it is still possible that it achieves “so bad it’s good” status – which is another form of success. I suppose.

    But seriously, what other properties of DC could work as a series of movies?:
    - The Flash: may work if done right. They need a creative visionary director to find a new angle on the character.

    - Dr. Fate: NO. Too much a product of its time

    - Aquaman: HAHAHAHAHA are you kidding?

    - Wonder Woman: If Joss Whedon or Darren Aronovsky (Black Swan) does it, then yes

    - Doom Patrol (Grant Morrison era): Yes, but you’ll need the most surrealist director you can find

    - SHAZAM: FUCK NO!!!

    - Martian Manhunter: Maybe as a Tentacle Japanese Porn Movie??

    - JLA: ONLY IF THEY DIRECTLY ADAPT GRANT MORRISON’S “JLA EARTH 2″ Story (not that animated movie crap that stole a few of his ideas)

    - American Vampire: could definitely work; Guillermo Del Toro directing (sorry Graeme, you’re just wrong about GDT)

    - I, Zombie: with Joss Whedon directing, absolutely

    - Sandman would never work, not even as an HBO series. TOO BORING.  I’ll tell you the end – he commits suicide.

    - We3: Yes, if they follow a script written only by Grant Morrison

    - 100 Bullets would have to be an HBO SERIES

    - Batwoman: DC/Warner Bros Time WOULD NOT HAVE THE BALLS TO MAKE A MOVIE WITH A GAY FEMALE LEAD.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QKN5MHOI6VUFOYCTV5REK7M7A4 Jacob

    I’m being honest with myself. I think a lot of the footage looks fantastic.

  • Anonymous

    yeah didn’t they just have the SFX wrap party like last week?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QKN5MHOI6VUFOYCTV5REK7M7A4 Jacob

    That would imply that the black cloud had a career before this. It’s more what Pulp Fiction was to Jackson.

  • UStink!

    Wow. Why so pessimistic and negative? Matter of fact, why don’t you be even more negative and just say your not a fan of DC movies but are a fan of most of the crap that Marvel has put out the last 8 years on the big screen?

  • yourEVIL

    Early positive buzz has already started for the film. Some of you morons need to remember that the effects were being worked on day in and day out up until about a month ago. Are some of you still basing your negativity off of the first teaser trailer that came out 8 months ago with incomplete effects or on the little old mask? Get over it already! 

  • stinkyfanboys

    DC has just amount of interesting characters to see on the big screen as Marvel, if not more. Look at Marvel…half of their movies have stunk and they still get a sequel (F4 , Hulk, Punisher) or a reboot DD, Hulk, Spidey, X Men,

  • Michael

    The thinking is that they might be using the screenings to keep re-editing the movie until they get something that they’re happy with (much like the repeated previews of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark); obviously you don’t really have to do that if the movie already tests well. As you said, I’m not saying that’s right or not, but I think that’s the idea.

  • Bruce Kim

    Well I hope it is good. The trailers don’t look promising….

    BUT I am still counting on the fact that Martin Campbell made CASINO ROYALE!

  • Jmcreer

    OMG – are you using logic and commonsense?  Damn you to hell for undermining McMilllan’s scaremongering posts he bases on little but rumours and innuendo!!

  • Jmcreer

    I agree.  I think GL is going to rock.  Of course no matter how good it is, some fanboys will still find something to whinge about.  Whinging is their oxygen.

  • Jmcreer

    Not to mention GOLDENEYE, the MASK OF ZORRO, and EDGE OF DARKNESS.  They’re all excellent films.

    Just don’t mention the LEGEND OF ZORRO (it’s a guilty pleasure)

  • Anonymous

    Ive been cheering for the black cloud ever sense his appearance in Lost!

  • Knibber

    I heard the Black Cloud will be playing King Lear at Shakespeare in the Park this summer

  • Anonymous

    This looks fantastic!!  The commets about looking silly makes you seem a little off key.  If you can take a man with a green ring into out space and expect it to seem real then I would question the validity of any comments you make.  If you have any imagination pick if up and  go see the movie and enjoy it.  

  • Sephy

    Someone has a Grant Morrison stiffy going on.

  • Mwedmer

    While a few people may feel let down because they have allowed the hype to get to big for them, from what I have seen of the film, it is going to be an enormous specticle.It will not be a flop in any capacity. The world is far to rich for it to fail. All I have seen of it makes me fondly remember a classic from the 80′s called The Last Starfighter” which really is kind of a close cousin to the GL mythos
    If anything, this film will make Superman have a lot to live up to

  • Coryjameson

    How can anyone in this forum say with a straight face that the ridiculous Green Lanterns’ oath recited by Reynolds will fly with a general audience? hmm? It’s pure cheese. It’s camp.

  • Pogo

    The worrying thing is that, more than Marvel versus DC, this looks more like Fox versus Warner. The moulding of public opinion through the creation of a negative hype is execrable and unethical.  This film was an expensive undertaking.  It looks like fun. Why shoot down this particular film and not the many other silly (i.e. Your highness) movies which have been produced so far?  Not to mention the efforts made by those who worked in/for it?  If you think it is going to be silly stay home. Nobody forces you to watch it.  But let me add that speculating on something you have not seen is silly indeed (and a tad dishonest, maybe?) 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QKN5MHOI6VUFOYCTV5REK7M7A4 Jacob

    Where did Fox enter the picture from?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QKN5MHOI6VUFOYCTV5REK7M7A4 Jacob

    How? With my mouth and muscles. Considering the success of the genre with “general audience”‘s, I think they’ll eat up all the cheese they can get.

  • WhatHuh?

    It won’t do good at the box office due to it being 3D. The typical family of four can’t afford to take their family to a movie due to the higher costs of 3D and most theatres do not offer it in 2D because they force the viewers into paying the higher price in order to make a larger profit. If they would only learn that you can make more money with 2D tickets, even at a lower cost, it would bring more viewers into the theatre, so the higher quantity of people equal more profit. Not to mention the extra money made off more viewers buying the inflated prices of pop/popcorn/snacks. It isn’t that hard to figure this out, but they refuse to look at simple math.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QKN5MHOI6VUFOYCTV5REK7M7A4 Jacob

    “most theatres do not offer it in 2D because they force the viewers into paying the higher price”

    Got a source for that information? All the theaters around me offer it in both.

  • WhatHuh?

    Yeah… all the theatres around here, which is a large city, but not as large as say San Diego, CA. San Diego has complexs with 30-40 screens and can offer both. The largest around here has 12 screens. I’ve been to various cities across the US and most states that do not have a major amount of theatres with large number of complexes to support both only show 3D. Then after a few weeks after its release, they show it in 2D and 3D with an average of 2 3D showings and regular amount of 2D showings. My job allows me to travel the US and I stop to comic shops and movie theares all over because of it.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QKN5MHOI6VUFOYCTV5REK7M7A4 Jacob

    That is disheartening. I guess I’m just lucky. I’ve got a 16-screen and a 20-screen near me who feature both, and prioritize 2D. There’s a 6-screen not far that doesn’t even show 3D.

  • WhatHuh?

    It is the same in Canada as well according to this forum http://forum.dvdtalk.com/archive/t-581530.html it is just becoming more and more or a forced situation on the viewers. The cost of the 3D lenses and converstion from 2D to 3D and vice versa also don’t help. There are some theatres that don’t change their lenses, which cause the 2D movies shown on 3D lenses to look darker. So when you want a 2D movie and it looks darker than it should, look at the projector booth and if 2 lights are showing from it, then they are showing a 2D movie on a 3D lense.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QKN5MHOI6VUFOYCTV5REK7M7A4 Jacob

    Screw that noise. I’ll drive as far as I can to find it in 2D. Thankfully, right now, it’s not an issue. That, or the conversion process improves dramatically. And they find someway to accommodate those of us that wear corrective lenses.

    I wonder if I could get a refund for them doing that? Because TRON: Legacy was really dark.

  • Wyatt Samuel K

    Transformers One and Two both looked INCREDIBLY silly, and yet managed to pull in almost $2 BILLION worldwide.  So what difference does it make how silly it looks?

  • Cjorg2

    Ok, we get it – you don’t like Green Lantern.  Just f*ck off and stop annoying everyone with your bullshit.

 

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