Director Lined Up for Green Lantern

Published by Jeff Leins on: February 5th, 2009

Martin Campbell is in talks to direct a feature adaptation of the DC comic book series The Green Lantern for Warner Bros.  Greg Berlanti (TV writer for “Eli Stone,” “Brothers and Sisters,” “Everwood”) wrote the script and was attached at one point to helm the project.  He will stay on as producer.

Campbell is an excellent choice.  As the director of Casino Royale and GoldenEye, he created the two best Bond films in recent memory and proved he’s capable of big budget action.  It shows Warners has learned from their experience with Christopher Nolan’s Batman and is willing to hire top talent to build comic book franchises.  The question is will he make it dark and gritty like all post-Dark Knight movies, or make it his own?

There have been five different “Green Lanterns” over the course of the comic’s run.  By wielding the magical ring with the Green Lantern symbol on it, the bearer gains super powers including flight, telepathy, force fields, and time travel.  The ring does not have an affect on anything that is the color yellow.

No stars have been announced yet, but Ryan Gosling was rumored last October.

Warners owns the rights to the DC comics universe, a property they acquired in 1969.  But with a patient timeline for a third Batman and a stalled Superman sequel/reboot, WB had to move to second and third tier characters.  In December, Warners president Alan Horn said Green Lantern was next in line and probably Jonah Hex to follow.  It looks like Lantern is moving ahead to fill in the studio’s superhero gaps.  Meanwhile, Horton Hears a Who! director Jimmy Hayward has been hired to helm Hex and Josh Brolin remains attached to star.