Back in November fan reaction to the first trailer for The Green Lantern was far from positive, but then the initial trailer for the first Iron Man film didn’t thrill anyone either and that film turned out to be a huge hit. But the recent comments of two anonymous Hollywood insiders, one a manager and the other an agent, who characterized the DC-based Warner Bros. tentpole as a “troubled production” and a “terrible movie,” spread across the Internet like wildfire. 

Is this fair, well no, but Warner Bros. may have some damage control to do here. It should be interesting to see what strategy the studio adopts in the run-up to the release of The Green Lantern on June 17th. Will the studio screen part or all of the film at any of the spring cons? DC and Warner Bros. have a lot riding on the fate of The Green Lantern film. If this movie fails, what second tier DC heroes will get their chance on the big screen? Will DC and Warners be forever limited to the big two (Batman and Superman)?

 

Although there have been some re-shoots for The Green Lantern, it doesn’t appear that anything like the panic moves that Warner Bros. attempted with Jonah Hex, which involved bringing in a new director to shoot the additional scenes, has happened with The Green Lantern. It’s way too early to give up on The Green Lantern, but it’s likely that the consumption of Xanax in Burbank is on the rise. 

 

There were plenty of doubters spreading bad buzz about the prospects of the recently-opened Green Hornet movie, which as a “superhero comedy” (not exactly the subgenre with the best track record) starring Seth Rogen (not your typical action hero) supposedly had several strikes against it. In spite of several release date changes, the Green Hornet movie scored a solid opening last week, and even received an “A-“ CinemaScore from the key “under 25” demographic, so “buzz” is not always a reliable indicator of a film’s performance.

 

The comments about The Green Lantern movie come from a piece in New York Magazine’s Vulture blog about Gossip Girl actress Blake Lively, one of the stars of The Green Lantern. Lively’s career is definitely on the rise after she demonstrated considerable range with a gritty performance in Ben Affleck’s The Town. The anonymous agent and manager quoted in the piece are discussing her prospects and come to the conclusion, that even if The Green Lantern tanks, Blake Lively will land on her feet: “both are also quick to say that should the forthcoming Green Lantern flop (and it's been a troubled production), it won't hurt Lively much. Says the manager, "Whatever the mistakes were with Green Lantern, she needs to not react to them and do an indie movie just because a big superhero movie didn't work. It's always about the role and the director. The hotter the person, the easier it is, and she's very hot right now." The agent adds, "Even though Green Lantern is supposed to be terrible, it doesn’t mean it’s not going to do extremely well and enhance her foreign value. Clash of the Titans was horrendous, but it didn’t slow down Sam Worthington any.”

 

Note that even while panning The Green Lantern, the agent allows for the possibility that the film might “do extremely well.” It’s way too early to write off The Green Lantern, though industry analysts will be watching closely to see how Warner Bros. handles the release of the film, especially the kind and amount of pre-release screenings the studio allows for both hardcore comic book fans and movie critics.