The Playlist

Weekend Box Office: 'Cars 2' Continues Pixar Formula, 'Green Lantern' Plummets

By Gabe Toro
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June 26, 2011 5:27 AM
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8 Comments

The numbers on “Cars 2” don’t actually matter, except for the stat-hounds regularly following the weekly box office noise (us!). “Cars 2” exists to facilitate Disney’s biggest merchandising cash cow, a multi-billion (annually!) property that needs no further justification. As Pixar seems like a studio that hopes to branch out into more ambitious directions (in theory), they will need something to keep the lights on when, and if, they should fail. Even if the reviews continue to be the worst ever received by a Pixar film, the “Cars” franchise will live on.

Would We Have Been Better Off With Robert Smigel's Version Of 'Green Lantern' Starring Jack Black?

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 20, 2011 8:13 AM
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0 Comments

Hal Jordan Conjured Up Superman & 5 More Things You Need To Know About The Unmade Comedic ScriptBefore Ryan Reynolds put on the CGI suit as Hal Jordan in "Green Lantern," the franchise was eyeing a completely different direction. Way back in 2004 Robert Smigel -- best known for his TV Funhouse shorts on "Saturday Night Live" and the creator and voice of Triumph The Insult Comic Dog -- had penned a comedic take on the character that had Jack Black set to star. In that incarnation, Black would've played a reality TV star who gets chosen to wear the power ring with comedic results. Needless to says, fans weren't so hot on this idea and while that version never got off the ground, we've always wondered what his film would've been like. Well, thanks to Vanity Fair, now we know.

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Weekend Box-Office: Is 'Green Lantern' The End Of The Superhero Gravy Train?

By Gabe Toro
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June 19, 2011 5:34 AM
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14 Comments

Perspective is necessary. $53 million is a whole lotta money. $53 million could buy several houses, it could feed many people, it could save lives. $53 million is also a pretty good opening for a somewhat higher-budgeted film, provided advertising isn’t through the roof and there aren’t a massive amount of back-end benefactors involved. But for “Green Lantern,” which cost upwards of $200 million before a massive ad campaign even by superhero standards, this is not a strong opening.

In Theaters: 'Green Lantern' Takes On 'Popper's Penguins'

By Katie Walsh
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June 17, 2011 5:16 AM
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1 Comment

Hello darlings. Please be patient with me today. I have decided to take "Green Lantern" as a personal affront to my being a grown ass woman with a need for grown ass movies. I just can't anymore with this childishness! Adolescent boys are ruling the world, and it's never more apparent than when examining the steaming piles of CGI comic book hash we get served up every summer. And you know, I'll take an "X-Men: First Class" or a "Captain America." At least these enhanced beings are located in a world that is rooted in some kind of reality with real stories and real problems (Nazis!). Even just reading our review of "Green Lantern" confused me with the made-up planets and the imagining stuff and the glowing rings and Peter Sarsgaard's giant head. No. Just no. Do not want. And don't expect me to want it either! We can't have nice movies if we don't hope for and expect entertainments that are better than this. All of you are on notice.

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Watch: The Onion Offers The Best Assessment Yet Of 'Green Lantern'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 15, 2011 4:32 AM
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2 Comments

With reviews dropping today for "Green Lantern" -- you can read ours right here -- the overall consensus is that it's a massive misfire with negative word coming from the most hardcore fanbase. That said, there are always the few fanboys who insist that anyone who doesn't like the movie has an axe to grind or simply doesn't understand the comic lore (see our comments section). But the hilarious folks at The Onion hit the nail on the head about what was wrong with this movie right from the outset.

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Review: 'Green Lantern' Is A Tale Of Good Versus Evil For Dummies

By Gabe Toro
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June 15, 2011 2:16 AM
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27 Comments

Why are superhero and comic book movies so popular? It may be the comfort of believing there is a clear distinction between “good” and “bad” people, that “good” isn’t such an abstract notion within one’s identity and bad, in itself, is an unchanging, sometimes unstoppable force. There is poetry in this oversimplified view, both in the way it calms the troubled minds of moviegoers and the very notion of an unchanging duality forever at war, one side “morally” representing the winning side, the other not.

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'Green Lantern' Reportedly Cost $300 Million; Director Martin Campbell Won't Return For Sequel

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 13, 2011 6:08 AM
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6 Comments

Greg Berlanti Describes The Film As A Cross Between 'Star Wars' & 'Top Gun'How much does it cost to make a "Green Lantern" light? Apparently $300 million (including marketing). That's the number being tossed around in a New York Times profile on the film and it's a pretty staggering figure.

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Mark Romanek Says He's Already Turned Down 'The Wolverine'

By Gabe Toro
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June 10, 2011 5:50 AM
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0 Comments

Ryan Reynolds Confirms 'Deadpool' Will Be 'Nasty,' 'Hard' And 'Cheap'Showing a remarkable amount of diplomacy, director Mark Romanek has confirmed, as reported a few weeks back, that he was a contender for Fox's already-troubled "The Wolverine" but that he has long since turned down the opportunity. Speaking about the Marvel sequel, he tells DigitalSpy, "That's just one of those stories that floated around. I was on their list, I received the script months ago. It didn't seem like my kind of thing." Given that Romanek is a picky and sometimes prickly director, one who famously bailed on his only other big studio assignment merely weeks before shooting ("The Wolfman"), it's not a huge surprise.

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Watch: Latest 'Green Lantern' Trailer Showcases 3D And Gets All The Exposition Out Of The Way

By Cory Everett
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May 20, 2011 12:50 PM
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9 Comments

Just in case you didn't get enough DC Comics excitement today with Warner Bros. releasing the first image of Tom Hardy as Bane from "The Dark Knight Rises" in the first of what is sure to be many viral stunts, they've also released the latest trailer for "Green Lantern." As the film is going to be a bit of a harder sell for WB, you don't even have to jump through any hoops to watch it. By releasing a new trailer what seems like every few weeks, the studio has done a good job of turning fan expectations around after some shaky early footage. As someone on Twitter said, "I feel shortchanged on days there isn't a new "Green Lantern" trailer."

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Jessica Chastain Talks Malick & 'Wettest County,' Martin Campbell Won't Return For 'Green Lantern'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 19, 2011 12:53 PM
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0 Comments

Nicolas Winding Refn Producing Icelandic Gangster Thriller 'Black's Game,' Summit Pick Up Dwayne Johnson Vehicle 'Snitch,' & More News From The Cannes BacklogMore news seems to break during Cannes than at any other time during the year, as you might have noticed. And, while we've done our darndest to cover everything, a few things have slipped through the cracks. But because we're completists, and because our loved ones abandoned us a long time ago, we're going to try and run everything down quickly below, and in our post from earlier this afternoon. So, with no further ado:

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