From denofgeek, This was supposed to be a pivotal film for Warner Bros. Aware that its DC brand was reliant on Batman and Superman movies to keep it bubbling, the plan was to bring in another big-budget superhero film, and potentially build up to a full Justice League movie, like Marvel’s The Avengers. The problem? Green Lantern just didn’t measure up.
The warning signs were illuminated when Warner Bros agreed to stump up $9m for extra effects work perilously close to the film’s release date. A massive marketing spend, meanwhile, helped the film to a decent $53m opening weekend in America. But from then on, rotten word of mouth strangled the film. It found its way to $115m in the US in the end, but the real damage was done at the worldwide box office.
In a year where films such as Harry Potter 7b and Pirates Of The Caribbean 4 have seen 70-80% of their takings comes from outside the States, Green Lantern bombed. Its non-US haul to date is just $61m. Potter stands at $857m, while Pirates has grabbed $798m of non-US business. Even Hollywood comedies, traditionally poor travellers, have been working in non-US markets. Green Lantern, in spite of that massive marketing roll-out, simply failed to do so.
Warner Bros is bullish, insisting that a sequel is still planned. It will be replacing director Martin Campbell, but it’ll also be patently aware that the underperformance of Green Lantern might just have iced those Justice League plans for a few more years yet. Perhaps that’s why Warner Bros is rumoured to be focusing on a Batman-Superman movie instead…
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