Warner Bros. already has the ingredients for Justice League, and the keys to making it unique and groundbreaking...

So here's the $250 million question... Even if Warner Bros. eventually gets its proverbial act together and finds a decent script and a willing director how exactly do they make Justice League more than just 'the one that came second'? Warner Bros. is now in the unenviable position of trying to follow up what is basically the superhero team-up film that everyone always wanted to see.  Oh sure, you can argue that Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are bigger and more iconic characters than  Thor or Iron Man, but Marvel did the work and kudos to them for herding the necessary cats in order to make it happen.  The irony is of course that Warner Bros. and DC Comics already have the ingredients to make Justice League matter in a movie world that has already seen The Avengers.  They have the ingredients, and the manner in which they mix them will potentially allow Justice League to be different enough and unique enough to stand on its own.  They just have to be willing to do what Marvel has so far been unwilling to do, which is to focus on heroes that aren't quite the ones you'd expect to take center stage.

Weekend Box Office part I: Fee Fi Fo Flop: Jack (the Giant Slayer) bombs harder than even John Carter.

Pretty much everything I said last March about John Carter applies to Jack the Giant Slayer.  There are a few differences.  Jack and the Beanstalk is technically a well-known property and Bryan Singer had the live-action track record that Andrew Stanton did not.  But otherwise it is pretty much the same fallacy with pretty much the same result: $200 million cost plus who knows how much in marketing for $27.9 million on opening weekend.  No stars, source material no one really cared to see onscreen, marketing that didn't convince them that they should, a release date that put them within one week of a likely juggernaut, and mixed reviews.  Like John Carter and Battleship, Jack the Giant Slayer was basically a $200 million variation on 'Generic Blockbuster: The Movie'.  Unlike Disney and Universal respectively, Warner Bros. seemed to see this one coming well in advance.  They changed the release date from June 2012 to this weekend and changed the title from Jack the Giant Killer to 'appeal to families'.  Yet they still spent $200 million on a would-be family film that I can't take my daughter to because it's PG-13 and (allegedly) features slightly toned down Lord of the Rings type violence. To be fair, some of that $200 million cost was due to reshoots and the date change, but why bother?  Warner spent untold extra millions to get the exact same terrible result they got this weekend.  And really the film's cost is as usual the prime offender.

Watch/Enjoy: Mad Magazine rips DC Comics in song.

This is both funny and pretty accurate in terms of how the DC Universe operates.  Enjoy...

Scott Mendelson

Beware the Batman, the eighth Batman cartoon since 1992, gets a teaser.

I'm not a huge fan of the CGI Green Lantern animated series, but I must confess that the writing is pretty sharp and the show plays for keeps.  So it is with cautious optimism that we glance at this 23-second teaser for Beware the Batman, a CGI Batman toon that will debut on Cartoon Network sometime in 2013.  Ironically, that means that there will be no Batman cartoon of any kind on the air throughout 2012, meaning that the 20th-anniversary of Batman: The Animated Series will be celebrated by having a year without Batman on our televisions for the first time since 1996. Batman: The Animated Series ran from 1992-1995, The New Batman Adventures (which was Batman: The Animated Series with streamlined artwork) ran from 1997-1999, Batman Beyond (basically the future-world of the Batman: TAS continuity) ran from 1999-2002. Justice League ran from 2001 until 2004 and Justice League Unlimited (same show, new format and title) ran from 2004 to 2006.  Its conclusion brought a close to the 14-year unofficial DC Animated Universe continuity (a world which also included the superb Superman: The Animated Series, the mediocre The Zeta Project and the often terrific Static Shock).  The Batman (which was mediocre for 60% of its run and rather good for 40%) aired from 2004 until 2008, while Batman: The Brave and the Bold (which began as a lighter, brighter Batman show but evolved into an occasionally hyper-violent examination of the entire Batman mythos from 1939 to 2011) aired from 2008 until 2011.

2011 year-end wrap-up part I: The Underrated.

 This is the first of several year-end wrap essays detailing the year in film.  First up, here are ten films that qualify as 'underrated'.  Some of them are good, if not great films, that were unfairly maligned.  Others were mediocrities that nonetheless did not deserve the level of scorn which they received and/or had content that was worth pointing out and praising within the flawed final product.  As always, they are in alphabetical order, with one special mention at the end for the 'most underrated film of 2011'.  I'm sure anyone who has been reading me this year can guess which film that is...

How to save the Green Lantern film franchise WITHOUT a reboot...

Word has come down from Warner Bros. that the studio is indeed considering 'rebooting' the Green Lantern franchise after one whiff.  The buzz words are 'dark and edgy', as if every comic book adaptation needs to be as grim as The Dark Knight and/or The Crow.  There is in fact an easy way to keep the franchise alive without the dreaded reboot, without scrapping what's already come.  See, the Green Lantern franchise is unique, and it is precicely that uniqueness that can allow it to start from scratch without actually starting from scratch.  There is only one Superman, a young man from Krypton named Clark Kent.  And, as far as film fans know, there is only one Spider-Man, Peter Parker (apologies to Miles Morales, who may yet do the mantle proud).  But there are about 7,200 different Green Lanterns who patrol the various quadrants of the galaxy.  There is no law saying that a new Green Lantern adventure has to focus on Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds).  By simply telling the story of a different Green Lantern, Warner and DC Comics has the freedom to tell any kind of Green Lantern tale they wish without tossing out the first film.

Weekend Box Office (07/10/11): Transformers 3 tops again, Horrible Bosses scores, while Zookeeper slightly underwhelms.

The Autobots and Decepticons ruled the box office yet again, as the Middle East-occupation parable grossed another $47 million over the weekend.  That was a drop of 54%, which was smaller than the 61% drop for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen which had the Fourth of July holiday weekend to theoretically bump it up.  It was a larger drop than the 47% second-weekend drop for the original Transformers on this same weekend back in 2007.  In terms of actual dollars, Transformers: Dark of the Moon (review) had a larger second weekend than both prior Transformers pictures, despite opening slightly less than the second film ($180 million in six days versus $200 million in five days last time).  It now has $261 million in the domestic till, with an international total that should be around or at $600 million today (which would be a record twelve days).  It broke $500 million on Thursday, becoming the fastest film to do so in history (nine days).  While it opened smaller than the last picture, it relative quality (it is a more audience pleasing spectacle than the last) is allowing it to slowly catch up (Transformers 2 had $293 million at this point in its run). So far, it most resembles the 2004 July 4th contender, Spider-Man 2, which also had a $180 million six-day start and ended weekend two with $256 million (it ended up with $373 million).  Barring a complete collapse or faster screen loss due to a crowded marketplace, the picture seems destined to pull about $390 million domestic while becoming the second film this year (after Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) to cross $1 billion worldwide.  The big question is how it handles Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II, which opens next weekend and could theoretically also join the $1 billion club this year.

Weekend Box Office (06/26/11): Cars 2 soars, Bad Teacher sets Diaz record, Green Lantern collapses.

To the surprise of no one, a Pixar picture topped the box office in its debut weekend, making it 12/12 since 1995.  Cars 2 (or as I like to call it: "Finally, a Pixar movie that won't make you violently sob in front of your children!") weathered some surprisingly savage reviews to still debut with $66.1 million over the weekend.  The opening is the fifth biggest in the studio's history, behind the $68.1 million debut of Up (it's at $109 million worldwide thus far).  The film had a low (for animation) 2.64x weekend multiplier (it opened with $25 million on Friday), but that means little more than that it was a sequel with a certain 'want-to-see' factor.  Heck, Toy Story 3 had a 2.6x weekend multiplier last year, causing me to (needlessly) wonder if the film was going to end up front-loaded overall.  Regardless, there has never been a Pixar movie to end up with less than 3.5x its opening weekend (Wall-E: $63m opening/$223m total).  So even if the critically trashed and more-or-less kid-targeted Cars 2 somehow sinks to a 'new low' of just 3.3x this weekend's number, it still ends up with $218 million.  If it merely does the 3.77x weekend-to-final number of Toy Story 3 ($110m/$415m), Cars 2 ends up with $249 million.

Weekend Box Office (06/19/11): Green Lantern pulls a Van Helsing, opens with $53m, endangers entire DC Comics film franchise.

When is a $52 million three-day opening a genuine disappointment?  Well, in the world of box office, all things are relative.  And when it comes to opening weekend, the quality and estimated staying power has to be taken into account.  Green Lantern debuted at number one this weekend with $53.1 million.  On the surface, that's the third-biggest DC Comics opening ever, and the second-biggest non-sequel DC Comics film (behind Watchmen's $55.2 million).  But like Watchmen, a seemingly glorious opening (a $55 million debut for a 2.5 hour R-rated superhero drama based on a cult property) is considered troubling due to fears about its staying power and overspending.  Green Lantern cost about $200 million to produce, with another $150 million going towards marketing efforts.  The film had a poor 2.45x weekend multiplier and earned only a B from Cinemascore.  This does not guarantee that Green Lantern will follow Watchmen's lightning-fast downward trajectory (the film didn't even double its opening weekend, ending with $107 million).  But with mediocre word of mouth, generally poor reviews, and brutal competition coming just down the pike (Cars 2 next weekend, Transformers: Dark of the Moon a few days after that), the best that Warner can hope for domestically is an around 3x multiplier for a $155 million finish.  Warner and DC Comics will have to be counting on overseas numbers to carry the day.

Midnight Box Office (06/16/11): Green Lantern grosses $3.35m in 12:01 showings, heading for probable $61 million opening weekend.

The midnight money is apparently tallied already.  So once again, we have a decent idea of what a major film's opening weekend will be before the first Friday shows on the West Coast even begin.  Fascinating... Anyway, Green Lantern grossed $3.35 million in midnight screenings last night.  That's ahead of the $3.25 million earned by Thor at midnight, and just under the $3.4 million midnight gross earned by X-Men: First Class two weeks ago.  So at this point, it's just a matter of anticipating just how anticipated Martin Campbell's superhero saga is.  It is an original property, so it won't be as front-loaded as X-Men: First Class (which pulled in 6% of its weekend at midnight).  Reviews are pretty lousy (unfairly so in my opinion), which may or may not make a difference (remember, audiences for movies like this generally don't care about reviews).  So basically the question is whether it pulls 5% of its money at 12:01am (like Thor) or 6% of its money at 12:01am like X-Men: First Class.  For the moment, Green Lantern is apparently heading for an opening weekend between $55 million and $67 million.  Let's split the difference, give it a 5.5% midnight take and call it for $61 million.

Scott Mendelson

Review: Green Lantern (3D) is not as great as we had all hoped, but it's not nearly as bad as we had all feared.

Green Lantern
2011
105 minutes
rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

I kept waiting... I had read the earlier reviews, which seemed to confirm all of the worst fears stretching back to last November.  But the hate never came.  Martin Campbell's Green Lantern is a deeply problematic comic book adventure, with structural and character development issues that should damn-well have felled the film.  But like its title character, it overcomes its own weaknesses and embraces its inherent flaws.  The picture has signs of tinkering and studio interference.  But it also has several fine action scenes, a strong visual style that feels like a living comic book, and arguably the best 3D conversion yet achieved in live-action.  Oh, and it also has Peter Skarsgaard, but more on that later.  I have no idea how Green Lantern purists will react, but the film as it is  remains a weird combination of ghee-whiz kid-friendly superhero antics and truly disturbing horror elements.  That the film is not quite the triumph we wanted may be tragic.  That the film as it stands works at all may qualify as a miracle.

Weekend Box Office (06/12/11): Super 8 opens with $35m, X-Men: First Class performs JUST like X-Men, Midnight In Paris nears $15m.

I've written about this before (here and here), but box office pundits and film bloggers generally seem to want it both ways.  They whine about the onslaught of remakes, reboots, sequels, and kid-centric animated films, yet they also DEMAND that the total weekend box office stay at a level that necessitates such a steady diet.  So when Paramount's Super 8 was tracking in the $25-30 million range over the last couple weeks, the various pundits were up in arms about how this original, star-less, $50 million period-set thriller was somehow an automatic flop because it wasn't going to open to $50 million over its first three days.  But now that it HAS opened to a relatively solid $35 million, the line is that total box office is down from this weekend last year.  Well, last year saw the release of a remake of The Karate Kid and a movie-adaptation of The A-Team, which opened with a combined take of $80 million.  Surprising quality of the Karate Kid remake aside, isn't that the kind of slate we all say we don't want?

3D isn't dying, it's just leveling out. Why consumers choosing 2D is a good for the 3D format and good for the industry.

The sky is not falling in the realm of 3D films.  There has been much handwringing over the last couple weeks as moviegoers have embraced their right to choose to see the latest summer tentpoles in 2D over the higher-priced 3D venues.  For the record, over the last two weekends, audiences purchased tickets to Kung Fu Panda 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in their respective 2D formats at a rate of 55/45.  So, despite those films playing in majority 3D theaters (around 65%), 3D ticket sales made up only 45% of the box office for their respective opening weekends.  This is not a new issue and it is not cause for panic or rebuttal.  Rather, it is a healthy sign that audiences are making an informed choice and that studios are offering a wide swath of moviegoers a genuine option when it comes to their 3D franchise pictures.

Blu Ray Review: Green Lantern: Emerald Knights

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
2011
84 minutes
rated PG-13
Available from Warner Home Video on June 7th, via DVD, Blu Ray, OnDemand, and Download

by Scott Mendelson

The interesting thing about the Green Lantern mythology is that it is full of characters who are equal to, if not superior to, our hero in any given story.  Sure, Batman may have (or once had re current continuity) the likes of Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Spoiler, Azrael, Huntress, and any number of others, everyone knows that Batman is the top dog in the Gotham vigilante scene.  But Green Lantern, whichever one we happen to be following at the moment (be it Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner etc), is just one of a gigantic interplanetary police force.  Point being, the Green Lantern corps is a vast army that makes for rich storytelling potential, as you can pick anyone of those countless galactic cops and fashion a compelling narrative.  And that's just what this latest DCAU film happens to be.  Yes it technically stars Hal Jordan, but it is more about the deep and vast mythology within the Green Lantern corps itself, and the various heroes within.

Another week, another Green Lantern trailer: this one in 3D. Well in theaters it's 3D, here it's just 2D (but with a decent amount of new footage).

Apparently the 3D effects for this trailer looked pretty spectacular in theaters.  That makes me awfully happy, as I really want to see this early but don't want to settle for an inferior presentation.  There is actually quite a bit of new footage here, even if we seem to be seeing much of the finale (including the apparent death of a major villain) right there in the trailer.  There are a few new bits of Reynolds actually doing the whole superhero thing in costume, so that's a relief.  Still, the actual 'Hal makes a glowing green car or a glowing green machine gun' scenes are going to be where dramatic credibility is lost (or absolutely affirmed).  This one has just under a month to go, which means Warner has time for at least a half dozen more trailers.  As always, we'll see...

Scott Mendelson

Hector Hammond added to ongoing Green Lantern poster collection.

Sophie's Choice of the modern film critic - See it early in 3D or see it later in 2D?

I am actually attending my second press screening with Allison in a couple weeks. I was invited to the All-Media for Kung Fu Panda 2 that will take place in downtown Hollywood on Saturday the 21st at 10:00am. I wasn't even seeking out said press screening, as I figured that we would just take Allison to a 2D showing sometime over Memorial Day weekend. But the ability to take my kid to a press screening of something my wife an I actually wanted to see, on a Saturday morning where I could then take them out to lunch and/or ice cream downtown, was too much to resist. Yes, Allison probably won't care two wits about the 3D, but it won't affect her enjoyment one way or another (she handled the god-awful 3D in The Nutcracker, she can handle Kung Fu Panda 2). Dreamworks has been doing top-notch 3D work in their films long before it was the 'cool' thing to do. How To Train Your Dragon remains up there with Coraline and The Polar Express as some of the most impressive and immersive 3D yet attempted in animation. But for other films coming this summer, the choice is not so clear...

Green Lantern gets a second (this time plot and character-centric) trailer.

This is almost anticlimactic after a month that saw a four-minute Wondercon clip and two extended TV spots, but here is the official second trailer for Green Lantern. This clip is obviously much less jokey than the infamous teaser, and it clearly lays out the intergalactic scale and the world-threatening scope of the picture. It also gives some badly needed face time to the human supporting cast, notably Peter Sarsgaard as primary villain Hector Hammand, Tim Robbins as his father, and Angela Bassett as Dr. Amanda Walker. Blake Lively is still being hidden from view as much as possible, which can't be a good sign. The key issue remains the same as the other released footage: next to no actual scenes of Ryan Reynolds in action as the Green Lantern. It's still the same helicopter rescue, gattling-gun scenes that we've seen before. Of course, there's still six weeks to go, with the special effects burden adding $9 million to the budget, but you'd think Warner would want to show off footage of Hal Jordan kicking butt? And I'm frankly a little shocked that we haven't seen what should be the money shot (if it exists): countless Green Lanterns flying through space and/or doing battle with Parallax. As always, we'll see.

Scott Mendelson

Updated: Green Lantern gets extended TV spots, sells cosmic scale to general audiences.

This TV spot ran over the weekend in various high-profile locales. It's 120 seconds long and, unless you're a nerd who looks up Wondercon footage, this is the first you've seen of the film since the disastrous trailer back in November 2010. As such, this extended spot is all about selling the scale of the picture and the intergalactic stakes. And on that note, it is a success. Reynolds is featured prominently, but mainly as an observer. In fact, the main problem with the spot is when the narrative returns to Earth for the last action montage, it feels less impressive than what came before. The only shots of Hal Jordan in action both come from the same scene of him beating up Peter Sarsgaard in a lab. Obviously this is marketing and Warner may be hiding at least some of the third act stuff (we already see what appears to be the death of a major villain) so we can hope that Jordan does more than stop a crashing helicopter and beat up a deranged scientist. I'm still impressed and cautiously optimistic thus far. As always, we'll see...

Scott Mendelson

Now THAT's a trailer. Green Lantern Wonder Con footage.

Lesson to be learned: if you don't have the material for a decent trailer, wait until you do. Warner Bros. shot itself in the foot late last year with a rushed and cheap-looking Green Lantern trailer in order to debut it with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part I. The word of mouth was poisonous and the marketing campaign pretty much entombed itself until this weekend. The guests at Wonder Con saw about ten minutes of new footage, and Warner decided to release four minutes worth. And it's pretty fantastic stuff. Sure, the effects are still work-in-progress and much of the film will likely resemble an animated picture, but... wow. The scope and scale is apparently everything you might want from a Green Lantern space adventure. The vastness of outer-space, the scope of the various alien worlds, the sheer intensity of the opening moments, and the fact that the outer-space menace (Parallax, I presume) actually looks pretty terrifying... I'm officially back on board for this one. It's no secret that I'm a big Martin Campbell fan, and it seems (for the moment) that my faith has been restored. The bad news is that while Allison liked seeing Green Lantern, she was a little freaked out by the last thirty-seconds, so she'll have to stay home on this one. Quite simply, I'm quite impressed and a little relieved.

Scott Mendelson