Director Martin Campbell says GREEN LANTERN is more Iron Man than Batman Begins, talks the possibility of 3D and more
Director Martin Campbell knows how to tell an origin story. He brought Zorro to a whole new generation and redeemed the Bond franchise twice. He ushered in new Bonds with Goldeneye and Casino Royale. The subsequent non-Campbell-directed follow ups both fell short of the director's brilliant lead in films. So we all feel pretty safe with Campbell at the helm of bringing DC's Green Lantern to the big-screen with the origin of how test pilot Hal Jordan becomes a member of an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe.
With the major casting announced -- Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, Gossip Girl's Blake Lively as his love interest, Peter Sarsgaard as Dr. Hammond and Sherlock Holmes' Mark Strong in talks to play Sinestro -- when Collider got a chance to speak to with Campbell while out promoting his new film Edge of Darkness, their focus was to get him to open up about the tone he'll be taking with Green Lantern, and the 3-D prospects in the post Avatar climate. Campbell also revealed that Hal will indeed be venturing out to other planets and that a well known production designer has come on board.
Ever since Christopher Nolan successfully rebooted the Batman franchise with Batman Begins, studios have set out to make, or at least falsely promote, that they want their comic adaptations to be just as grounded in reality and have the same "dark" and "gritty" tone. Those are just coattail riding buzz words if you ask us. Jon Favreau's Iron Man and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man walked a much more comedic line, and had a more colorful palette, and were much more successful at the box-office than Nolan's first Batman outing.
When asked if The Green Lantern would be more like Batman Begins or Iron Man, Campbell said:
It will be much more in the tone of Iron Man. It’s got to be. Certainly not Batman Begins, which is a pretty dark movie. No, he’s the Hal Jordan character who’s the sort of shoot from the hip, irresponsible kind of cocky test pilot if you will. In fact, the character seems to be the least likely to be chosen as Green Lantern. Well, of course that’s the fun of it. So no, it’ll be much more like Iron Man. So it’ll have one foot in reality if you see what I mean.
On the potential of shooting in 3D or converting, Campbell explained that though he and the studio haven't officially discussed the prospect, it certainly is a strong possibility:
[James] Cameron’s raised the bar on all that, so I think what he’s done with Avatar will make every studio now sit up and look at the box office from 3D and the fact that audiences loved it and it’s such a hit. I think he will…and of course they can do it in post now, you know 3D is so…even though we haven’t really talked about it, I’m sure it’ll come up.
Green Lantern is set to start shooting in March in New Orleans with Lord of The Rings' Grant Major, as the film's production designer -- helping design the lamps, and every other little detail us geeks will be scrutinizing when the film comes out.
In response to the buzz surrounding the property, Campbell also revealed that Hal won't just be battling it out here on earth, but that he will going to at least one other planet as well.
It’s such a kind of eclectic range of characters and also it’s the only superhero to go to another planet, so you’re creating at least another world that…and none of them do.
So there's your dose of Green Lantern info for now. Be sure to tell us what you think of the tone Campbell is taking with the film, the 3D prospect, and Hal going to another planet in the rant back section below.
To read the whole Green Lantern section of the interview, click here.