Filmonic » Martin Campbell

Martin Campbell on the effects of Green Lantern

Liam — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:25:00 +0000

We haven’t really heard much from Green Lantern director Martin Campbell, which could be because he’s been busy with pre-production and sorting out where to shoot, as the film recently moved out of Australia due to rising cost. Well Empire (via Coventry Telegraph) caught up with him this week, and he spoke about the visual effects that will be in the movie:

“It’s daunting,” he said. “Just the process, something like 1,300 visual effects shots, it’s mind-blowing, quite honestly.”
Campbell said that a lot of the effects shots work will concentrate on the Green Lantern’s power ring. “It’s energized by a battery on the planet of Oa, which taps into the willpower of everyone in the universe. From that ring you can form constructs. So if you got into a fight, you could form a giant fist. Or a fighter plane.”

Campbell’s previous films such as Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro and Golden Eye haven’t relied heavily on special effects, so he will be walking on new territory with Green Lantern. Ryan Reynolds will be suiting up in around 4 months time and it is expected the film will shoot in New Orleans, Mexico or Canada.

Reynolds says Green Lantern is 5 months away from shooting

Liam — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:31:20 +0000

Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern was originally set to begin filming next January in Australia, however there was recent talk that Warner Bros. would move the production to Mexico as things don’t cost the same as they did a year ago and to continue with the Australia shoot would have added another $20 million to the production costs. Nothing has been confirmed yet, although Ryan Reynolds recently appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and confirmed filming is still on track for a January/February shoot.

From Splash Page:

Though Reynolds insisted that he had to stay quiet on the details of the upcoming “Green Lantern” adaptation, he did reveal one important bit of information – a rough timetable for filming.
“I’m 4-5 months away from beginning shooting,” Reynolds told Fallon, musing that the consequences of leaking additional information could be severe.
“It’s crazy, it’s the only job I’ve ever had that I’m not allowed to really talk about. I think there’s like a representative from Warner Brothers who I’m sure is following me around ready to blow-dart me if I say a single word,” said Reynolds, “I probably have a chip in me somewhere, like if I start talking about it, I’ll just pass away.”
Though Fallon himself didn’t seem very familiar with the concepts or powers behind Green Lantern, Reynolds was able to set him straight in terms of what the movie would encapsulate.
“A lot of [the film] is sort of like a space epic and some of it is on planet Earth,” said Reynolds, “[Green Lantern] has this ring and he’s been chosen to have this power and the ring can kind of create anything that his will or his imagination can conjure up.”

He also said that at this point playing both Deadpool and Green Lantern “makes you just like an Internet hero, nothing really more than that”.

Green Lantern having money trouble?

Liam — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:42:05 +0000

We haven’t heard anything about Green Lantern since is was announced that Ryan Reynolds would be suiting up to play the lead. We were told they were planning on filming in January next year, so one would assume they were busy working on the script and sorting out other pre-production duties. However, according to Inside Film the film may have hit a snag.

Green Lantern’s proposed Australian shoot is understood to be under threat after the rising Australian dollar has blown out production costs.
Warner Bros is understood to be negotiating with the NSW State Government to receive a higher level of concessions in an effort to claw back between $US15 and $US25 million in value eroded by the currency gains.
The value of the Australian dollar has climbed by more than 16 per cent since the State Labor government announced the deal to film at Fox Studios in mid-April. The big-budget Hollywood blockbuster was expected to create around 500 local jobs, including 100 performers and 200 crew.
While most offshore productions lock in finance when a project is green-lit, it is understood that ongoing work on the Green Lantern script delayed that move. Pre-production on the film was originally scheduled for July and filming for November.

Nobody from Warner Bros. has commented on this so no word yet on whether this is true. Although I doubt they would come out and reveal they are having money troubles. Funnily enough it was Australian tax breaks (or lack of) that stuck a nail in the Justice League movie’s coffin. But that wasn’t so bad as the movie sounded horrible. Green Lantern on the other hand is sounding far better, especially as they have Casino Royale director Martin Campbell on-board.

[The image above isn't from the film, it's just very cool fan art]

Warner Bros. deciding over Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Timberlake for Green Lantern

Liam — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:54:21 +0000

Yesterday AICN posted news that Justin Timberlake was apparently screen testing for Green Lanturn and that he is one of the guys that Warner Bros. have been seriously considering for the role. A few hours later The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the news, but they added two other names into the mix, Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) and Ryan Reynolds (X-Men Origins: Wolverine).

Warner Bros. is about to decide who will wear the super-powered ring in “Green Lantern,” the studio’s latest DC Comics tentpole movie.
Along with director Martin Campbell and producers Donald De Line and Greg Berlanti, Warners has spent the past five months searching for the actor to play Hal Jordan, the hot-shot Air Force pilot who is chosen by a dying alien to be his successor in an intergalactic police force known as the Green Lanterns.
This week, the race narrowed to Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Timberlake. The clock is ticking on the decision as the holding deal the studio had on the actors expired Monday, meaning the three are now free to accept other offers.
The studio ordered up two rounds of screen tests with Cooper, Reynolds and Timberlake. Other actors in the early mix included Michael Fassbender, Henry Cavill and Jared Leto.
Apparently, De Line, Campbell and the studio each had a different favorite among the three finalists, making it difficult to come to a consensus.

If I were to pick one out of the three it would be Bradley Cooper. While I like Ryan Reynolds he has Deadpool on the horizon and playing two superheroes in two different franchises wouldn’t be ideal (although maybe it would be for him $$$). Justin Timberlake will forever be Justin Timberlake, and while he may be a safer option for Warner Bros. due to his worldwide appeal and fame, it’s probably not the right option.

Green Lantern pushed back to Summer 2011

Liam — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:34:55 +0000

Warner Bros. have decided to push back the release of Green Lantern from December 2010 to June 2011 according to Box Office Mojo. No word whether this will affect plans to start shooting in September or whether the move is to give director Martin Campbell more time for post-production and special FX.

There has yet to be an official announcement regarding who will be playing Hal Jordan, although names such as Shawn Roberts, Brian Austin Green and Bradley Cooper have been flying around the interweb over the past few days.

The shift just adds to the greatness that will be ‘Summer 2011′, with Spider-Man 4, Thor, Captain America and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II all being released. There is also a possibility we could see Batman 3 slot itself somewhere in there too.

Green Lantern gets $150 million to film in Sydney

Liam — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:10:48 +0000

Warner Bros. have decided that filming for Green Lantern will take place in Sydney, and according to The Hollywood Reporter the budget will be around $150 million.

Martin Campbell, director of “Casino Royale,” will be at the helm of the comic book’s big screen adaptation, working from a script by Greg Berlanti and Michael Green. Donald Deline will produce with a reported budget of $150 million.
Rees said the film would create around 500 jobs and include a “substantial investment” in digital effects work in Australia.
Pre-production on “Green Lantern” is set to begin in July, and filming scheduled to start in November. Warner hopes to release the film in December 2010.

Funnily enough, one of the reasons the Justice League movie didn’t go ahead was due to it being denied tax relief by Australia. Sydney seems to be popular with movie studio’s recently. X-Men Origins: Wolverine was mainly shot there, Happy Feet 2 is in development and Zack Snyder’s Guardians of Ga’Hoole is currently in production.

Martin Campbell could be directing Green Lantern!

Liam — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:06:25 +0000

Casino Royale director Martin Campbell is in talks to direct Green Lantern according to Variety. If the talks go well and Campbell does sign on to direct, this would be a smart move by Warner Bros. Most people agree that Casino Royale was a great movie and one of the main reason for that was Campbell.

The emergence of Campbell, who also helmed two “Zorro” films and the 007 film “GoldenEye,” puts “Green Lantern” at the top of DC properties being set for movie treatment by WB. While the studio is hoping director Chris Nolan will follow its 2008 smash “The Dark Knight” with another Batfilm, DC projects such as Superman and “Justice League” were expected to happen quickly, but have stalled.
Instead, the hot DC titles are “Green Lantern” and “Jonah Hex,” the latter of which has Josh Brolin set to play a disfigured gunslinger in a film that begins production in April, directed by Jimmy Heyward (”Horton Hears a Who”).