Not everyone is built to helm a superhero film. From the fan reaction to respecting the source material, tackling a film from Marvel or DC is no easy task, and not many filmmakers understand this quite like Martin Campbell.
Campbell directed Green Lantern back in 2011 and the film was a commercial and critical bomb. Before that, though, Campbell helmed Bond features like GoldenEye and Casino Royale, which were met with praise. Sadly, when he moved to the world of DC in 2011, he didn’t have the same warm reception. The film even became a joke in another superhero franchise, with star Ryan Reynolds mocking it in his Deadpool movies.
In a recent interview to promote his new film The Protege, Campbell revealed what he didn’t enjoy about the 2011 film, stating that: “We’ll put it this way: I did have my cut. The point was, right at the beginning of the movie, there was a whole sequence where he’s an 11-year-old kid. It’s how his father dies in the air crash, which was a really good sequence. But [the production head] at the time decided that he wanted the death of the father intercut with Hal plunging in the plane, and he saw these flashbacks come to him. That was something that I didn’t like very much.”
When pressed for more, Campbell got remarkably candid and took responsibility for Green Lantern‘s failings. “But you know what? The film did not work, really. That’s the point, and I’m partly responsible for that. I shouldn’t have done it. Because with something like Bond – I love Bond, and I watched every Bond film before I ever directed it. Superhero movies are not my cup of tea, and for that reason, I shouldn’t have done it. But directors always have to carry the can for the failures. What do they say? Success has many fathers; failure has one. And that’s me.”
Warner Bros. and DC Films have been working a Green Lantern Corps movie as part of the DC Extended Universe, which officially remains in development although its status is unclear at this point. Meanwhile, HBO Max also has a Green Lantern series in the works from Greg Berlanti, Seth Grahame-Smith and Marc Guggenheim.
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