GREEN LANTERN Director Says the Film Could’ve Been Great If Ryan Reynolds Had Written It
When GoldenEye and Casino Royale director Martin Campbell was hired to helm Green Lantern back in 2011, it felt like DC was finally about to launch something big. The film had a seasoned director, a leading man on the rise, and one of DC’s most iconic heroes. But, unfortunately, the final result was a mess.
Over a decade later, Campbell has no illusions about how the film turned out, but he’s now saying that if one thing had changed, Green Lantern might have actually worked… the script, and more specifically, he wishes Ryan Reynolds had written it.
In a new interview with The Direct, Campbell opened up about the rocky experience:
"Oh, it's fair enough. You know, look, people didn't like it. It failed, right? I was the director, so, you know, obviously I take the heat for it, which is fine. But all I can say is, Ryan's a very funny guy, very fun. We actually had a terrific time on the film."
Despite how things turned out, Campbell had nothing but good things to say about Reynolds and co-star Blake Lively:
"I thoroughly enjoyed working with him and with Blake Lively. She was terrific as well. And he's always, he's got a great whip, you know, Ryan."
He then went on to say that he wishes Reynolds would’ve written the script:
"In fact, I wish to God he had written the script, and it would have been great. But he's always taking jabs at it. And fair enough. Though, listen, it was a big success for him because he met Blake Lively."
Reynolds has long made Green Lantern the butt of many jokes, both in interviews and in his Deadpool movies. Campbell has also taken aim at the film’s script before. Earlier this year, he said:
“I’m simply saying I don’t think that the script was great. I also felt that Parallax, our bad guy, was just a cloud with a face on it — literally, that’s all it was. I think while all the characters were part of the story… part of the comics basically, I think the story was left wanting.”
Despite its massive $200 million budget, Green Lantern struggled at the box office, bringing in just $237.2 million worldwide and ended up being a flop.
The movie even teased a sequel with Mark Strong’s Sinestro donning the yellow ring, setting up a Sinestro Corps storyline that never saw the light of day.
DC Studios is giving Green Lantern another shot, though, with the upcoming Lanterns series on HBO will bring Hal Jordan back, this time played by Kyle Chandler, alongside John Stewart. It’ll be interesting to see how that series turns out.