Most of you might recognize Martin Campbell‘s name for being the director of the superb Casino Royale, but he has several projects lined up that have the potential to improve his already more than impressive resume. Edge of Darkness, which features the highly-anticipated return of Mel Gibson to the big screen, will be released on January 29th, and based on this interview from Collider, Campbell has some big aspirations for his next feature as well. Green Lantern, which is currently scheduled for a June 17, 2011 release, is a DC comic book adaptation, centering on a test pilot (Ryan Reynolds), who receives extraordinary powers from a mystical green ring. When asked about his vision of the film, he responded with the following:
“It will be much more in the tone of Iron Man. It’s got to be. Certainly not Batman Begins, which is a pretty dark movie. No, he’s the Hal Jordan character who’s the sort of shoot from the hip, irresponsible kind of cocky test pilot if you will. In fact, the character seems to be the least likely to be chosen as Green Lantern. Well, of course that’s the fun of it. So no, it’ll be much more like Iron Man. So it’ll have one foot in reality if you see what I mean.”
Considering the acclaim of both Batman Begins and Iron Man, Campbell couldn’t have picked wrong here, but let’s just hope that he delivers. He has already lined up Grant Major (The Lord of the Rings) to be the production designer, and with Peter Sarsgaard (Boys Don’t Cry, An Education) joining the cast, it’s evident that Campbell has a lot of great resources to work with.
Another interesting tidbit from his interview covered the possibility of releasing Green Lantern in 3D. It’s obviously too early in the game for him to have any definitive answer, but his openness on the subject is intriguing:
“[Warner Bros. and I] haven’t really talked about it. But with the worldwide success of Avatar, it’s hard to imagine every studio not re-examining their big budget properties to see if they can release it in 3D and make a few extra dollars.”
Combining Campbell‘s past success with the skill of his counterparts up to this point, I must admit that my hopes are high for this film, although it would be ignorant to ignore the fact that this is certainly new ground for the 65-year-old director.
Are you encouraged by Campbell’s decision? Personally, I prefer Batman Begins, but considering the “shoot from the hip” character with which he is dealing, do you think his choice to mirror Iron Man is the right one?