The Warners brass weren't joking when they said they were pushing ahead on their output in order to get up to speed in the face of the Marvel Universe’s cinematic expansion. Word comes from the Heat Vision Blog that the studio has hired Green Lantern’s writing team – Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim – to start working on a treatment for the sequel. And not only that, but they’ll concurrently knock up some structure for a film based on The Flash.
The plan, apparently, is for them threesome to pool their resources on Lantern 2 and Flash, with the studio then deciding which of the two treatments would then be turned into a script first.
It’s a striking move to start work on a sequel to a big risk blockbuster so early, or at least so blatantly. While studio types and filmmakers are usually content to deliver the old lines about “making sure the first one’s good before thinking about any other films” and “the audience will let us know if there is to be another”, we all know they’re secretly beavering away on follow-up ideas. But to make an actual announcement on it is unusual and appears to signal that Warners is happy with what it has seen of the Lantern shoot so far.
With a June 17, 2011 release date set for Green Lantern, director Martin Campbell and his cast (including Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard and the Floating Head Of Mark Strong, Albeit Attached To The Rest Of Him) are busy shooting the thing in Louisiana right now, based on the DC Comic.
The Flash, meanwhile, has been waiting for his moment in the spotlight for even longer, with various cinematic versions touted through the years only to fall apart before they can run onscreen. With Lantern’s writing corps now ready to tackle the topic, perhaps Barry Allen can finally slip into his red suit and pick up a little speed…