Green Lantern earned $18.4 million in its second weekend, according to current studio estimates reported by Box Office Mojo. That’s a 65.5 percent drop from its first weekend, a steeper decline than Thor (47.2 percent) and X-Men: First Class (56.2 percent).
Facing two strong openings — Cars 2 and Bad Teacher — the Ryan Reynolds-starred DC Comics adaptation placed in third, with a cumulative domestic total of $89.3m. Combined with a current $29.4 in foreign gross, the film’s sitting at $118.7 worldwide. The stiff competition isn’t letting up in the coming days, with Transformers: Dark of the Moon debuting in theaters on Tuesday night.
The film’s disappointing performance apparently isn’t stopping Warner Bros. from planning on a sequel, though: The Hollywood Reporter says in an article today that the studio “still believes in the franchise.”
June 26th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
I think they can improve this. just lose the Geoff Johns’s “dialogue.” Clean things up and have one villain, we’re good to go. Or they can reboot right away as DC seems to do every 4-6 years.
June 26th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
DC has rebooted ONE franchise thus far, Batman… how is that something DC seems to do every 5-6 years?
June 26th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
Jason, he means in the comics – Infinte Crisis, Final Crisis, and now Flashpoint/DCnU, all within an 8 year time period.
June 26th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
They’re rebooting superman. I think they should’ve done the secret origins story, and lead into a War of Light angle
June 26th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Infinte Crisis, Final Crisis
These were not reboot not in any way.
Flashpoint yes year Zero yes
June 26th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Actually infinite crisis led to the one year later jump and some minor tweaks to the canon so many consider it a “soft” reboot
June 26th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
I suppose that GREEN LANTERN is too big to fail?
Seriously, though, being beaten by THOR has got to hurt.
June 26th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
I just re-read “Green Lantern: Secret Origin” and was reminded about how good the movie could’ve been. Why didn’t they use the “Hal/Sinestro-student/teacher” connection?
(For that matter why couldn’t they have made a “good” movie?)
June 26th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
I don’t think that there was anything wrong with the movie, I know everyone was expecting the action to kick off from the opening intros but come on it was based on the beginning of Hal Jordan’s portion of the story and how he became a Green Lantern. As for the sequel I can’t wait I have been waiting for this movie for such a long time and I can’t wait for the sequel to see the beginning of the the Sinestro Corps. H8 on H8ers
June 26th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
I was really looking forward to this, then I read the reviews. Then I heard from friends who saw the film. The bad word of mouth spread like the plague. I am one that reads reviews before seeing a film, however, I could tell from the trailer that the film looked and felt…not good enough. Seriously, Martin Campbell can make Casino Royale (which I loved), but this POS? Not touching it.
June 26th, 2011 at 4:29 pm
The reason for the box office drop is that Cars 2 came out Friday, at least in my opinion!
June 26th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Look more Sinestro. Have a decent villain. Too much Hal/Carol mush. Keep to minimum. This has potential.
June 26th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
@ Mike: You haven’t even seen the movie and you call it POS? Way to give an informed opinion, Mikey! That’s the problem with most of these “doom-sayers”. They can’t think for themselves and have to be told their opinion. Join the rest of the sheep and wait to be told how to think…
June 26th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Thor is a better character than Green Lantern, if it where not for Geoff it would never have had the status it has now, while Thor had a several memorable runs. Thor box office not only show this, since it shows that not only comic book fans like the character most but the general public do as well. In fact, Word wide Thor’s box office is a lot higher than even the last Superman and Hulk which where more heavily recognized characters.
June 26th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
I don’t get the massive hate for GL, though it was good, just a bit too much into one film. I get they thought Parallax would be a good fit and it’s supposed to be on Hal learning the ropes. I do have sequel hopes still (don’t forget international markets) so might be able to get Star Sapphire and yellow Sinestro.
June 26th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
I for one thought it was great. Not sure what others were expecting. Johns’ incredible runs on the comic were only possible after the groundwork was already laid. This movie was the groundwork for the rest of the franchise. Chill out, people.
June 26th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
I took my 3 1/2 year old son to see it on Father’s Day and we both enjoyed it. It wasn’t Superman (that I saw with my dad in 1st grade) or Batman (that I cut class to line-up for) but it wasn’t, in my opinion, an awful movie. The lack of a villain the audience could really get into hurt b/c I don’t think a big cloud of Parallax was the best choice for a movie. Reminded me a lot of the cloud of Galactus from the 2nd FF movie.
Sinestro and the Qwardians would likely have worked better but if they can get a sequel funded I’m sure that’s the route they’ll go. Using the Johns’ material is a good idea but we’re not at the point yet where that work can go right from the page to the screen.
June 26th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
LOL, The Onion called this one!
http://www.theonion.com/video/green-lantern-to-fulfill-americas-wish-to-see-lant,20741/
“..and a Green Lantern sequel is rumoured to already be in the works, due to the fact that this franchise has now been created.”
June 26th, 2011 at 6:10 pm
The Australian release has been pushed back to August. They’re obviously waiting until after Cars 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2 and even Captain America have finished in theatres.
June 26th, 2011 at 6:28 pm
Oh come on now. Final Crisis was by no means a reboot.
If we’re going to start counting crossover mega-events, then Marvel reboots itself bi-yearly …
June 26th, 2011 at 7:13 pm
Thor is better known because he’s a world mythological character not because of the Marvel comic book character. Plus the movie played more as a fantasy movie, which the general public can get into easier. I loved Thor but I also loved Green Lantern. They both nailed their respective characters and franchises in my opinion.
I grew up reading Thor and until the Simonson run, he was a B character. However Thor never had a sustained run of quality stories like GL has since Rebirth under Johns.
June 26th, 2011 at 7:30 pm
I wasn’t dissapointed that it didn’t live up to comic expectations. Cause in all honesty they got a LOT of things right. But the things they got wrong were really wrong. They spent so much time getting the look right they never bothered with the story. The flow was just completely off. They really needed to flesh out the Hal/Sinestro relationship. And there was NO reason for the bit with Sinestro in the credits. None. But whatever. I’m willing to see a see a sequel I guess.
June 26th, 2011 at 8:05 pm
I hope the sequel actually moves from ‘planned’ to reality. I think the next one will blow everyone’s socks off.
June 26th, 2011 at 8:24 pm
I hope they make a sequel. It could be great. Even better than the first film, which yes – I loved. I also hope the studio sees to it to release the DIRECTOR’S cut of the film – instead of the studio cut. The theatrical release just screamed of a studio edit and I know Martin Campbell delivered a much fuller cut. Give the audience the film they deserve – the REAL cut of Green Lantern.
June 26th, 2011 at 8:34 pm
interesting the tone of the article on this page… you put a question mark on the Headline on the main page but here its shows that sequel IS being planned Not questioned
Get you act together newsarama and stop creating a story –just report it
June 26th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
GL is a movie that IMO will be stronger in DVD release and PPV. I think the potential success of GL is a timed release with Halloween. IMO it is a far better youth movie and should merchandise strong.
June 26th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
Even if he’s not the strongest villain, Hector Hammond could still be a compelling character. The first movie could have been Hal establishing himself as a hero. We only got a couple of superheroic acts and that’s it. The GL Corps could instead be the focus of the second movie where Hal goes to Oa to receive his training.
As it is, it feels like Daredevil where they tried to cram a lot of stuff into a 100-minute movie.
June 26th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
Green Lantern wasn’t the giant turd people are making it out to be….but it’s pretty darn close.
And for those call the people who hated it H8ters. They only hated it because they know Hal deserved better than this and I’m one to agree with them.
Like others have said this movie should have focused more on the Hal/Sinestro relationship then Hal/Carol. A LOT more.
June 26th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
I thought the movie was pretty good, despite all the bad reviews. Sure, I could have done without the whole Hector Hammond thing, but overall, I wasn’t dissapointed with it. I thought they did a great job in capturing Hal’s character. The costume took some getting use to, but by the end of the movie, it seemed to be a good fit (no pun intended). Yeah – Thor was a better movie overall, but Green Lantern was better than a lot of comic book movies, including all of the X-men (with the exception of First Class – I haven’t seen it yet).
June 26th, 2011 at 10:55 pm
I was terrified by the trailer and bummed out by the reviews but a buddy and I went to Thor/GL doubleheader and I was stunned by how fun GL (and how mediocre Thor was, in contrast to the raves it received). GL is not great and the production design is horrible, but the leads are really good, the story is … solid as long as you don’t try to make sense of the theory behind the ring, Campbell made the constructs work, and the audience dug it. I genuinely think everyone who slagged this movie did so because the aliens look like crap. As far as content goes, it’s fine-to-good. I’d like to think they can tighten the story up and, well, tweak the designs. I’d agree Thor looks a LOT better (although the climax, was terrible), but the story and cast were weaker (Hemsworth and dude who plays Loki were really good, fortunately).
June 26th, 2011 at 11:06 pm
It was a decent movie. Yes it should have been better written, and a bit longer, and that can be fixed. Great acting either way. Again forget the word of mouth and see the film if you haven’t. Oh and as far as that nonsense that Thor is a better character ( worse movie ), that’ll be the day. Thor will never be a better character or have a place in comics history like Green lantern will and does.
June 27th, 2011 at 12:46 am
The last few posters are all full of shit. Just because Thor has attracted a lot of terrible writers doesn’t make him a terrible character. He is one of the big three for Marvel and always will be…
June 27th, 2011 at 12:52 am
Watched the Green Lantern Animated Movie “First Flight” and compared it to the Green Lantern Movie, wished they used the script for the animated film for the live action film.
June 27th, 2011 at 3:07 am
These DC movies are failing because these characters are outdated and plain lame. This is why you will never ever see a successful movie based on a DC character ever again (except Batman because his edgy / semi-plausible billionaire vigilante premise still has resonance with modern audiences). Superman will tank AGAIN, Wonder Woman will never have a successful live-action anything and I suspect after Supes and GL’s failure we won’t ever see a Flash film.
Also, YAY! Marvel is turning into the new Pixar, four films in and they haven’t had one failure!
June 27th, 2011 at 4:27 am
What I find amazing about so many things related about comics is that too many fanboys have such unapproachable standards that it hinders their ability to actually sit back and enjoy something. This movie was far from perfect, but cramming as much as they did into the movie perhaps harmed the prospects. Starting out with Parallax, almost going to a Krona level with that character, that was a bit much. Honestly I think if they would’ve stuck with the Hector Hammond bit, and fleshed that out a little more the story would’ve fared much better.
I had zero problems with any of the actors, to this day Carol Ferris irritates me to no end and Blake Lively communicated that very well! There were other things I would’ve liked to see more of, but all in all that didn’t ruin the experience of sitting back and enjoying a decent film in the respect of the limitation of a summer blockbuster. When it comes down to it, I believe the biggest failure of this movie was trying to do too much with the source material, two villains, setting up the supporting cast, and establishing that there is more than 2 or 3 superheroes in the DCU Movie establishment is going to be difficult to do, and honestly, what movie could’ve survived the level of hype Green Lantern was shoved through?
Honestly, I would like to see studios keep the Marvel format, Keep It Simple, Stupid (K.I.S.S.) always reigns supreme. Give me a movie with 1 hero, a small supporting cast, and 1 villain and there will be enough there for the main character to be explored in a story that is both sensible and enjoyable (especially on the scope of Green Lantern).
I wouldn’t rate this movie as a perfect experience, like I said there are problems with the execution. But I would see it again, I will buy the DVD, and I enjoyed myself while watching. In the end I think it did an adequate job of introducing the world to a DC hero that isn’t Batman or Superman, and taking into respect that Green Lantern is such a heavier mythology than either of DC’s leading marketable heroes I think that’s a feat of success.
Batman and Superman are much more simple to explain, Green Lantern requires people to pay attention and remember some things other than a guy’s parents getting shot, or the alien raised on a farm with good ‘ole conservative values. The introductory movie was bound to be difficult to get through, and so long as they don’t start off with Sinestro’s Corps in the beginning of GL2, there’s a large probability this franchise will be successful in the long run, but I have my doubts that an audience (and fanboys in particular) care about the long term vs. immediate gratification.
As another commenter spoke previous, too many people allow the critics to do their thinking for them, and that’s a shame. Critics are overpaid clowns with hardly anything constructive to say about our genre of movies, and you’re going to let them rule your brain. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves, stand up and think with your own brain, don’t allow a comic “news” site, or a critic do your thinking for you. If you’re too lazy to form your own opinions, do the world a favor and keep your mouths shut.
June 27th, 2011 at 5:02 am
Heh….”Everyone should go see the Green Lantern so that we can get a sequel and have an awesome movie!” You know, they maybe should have gotten it right the first time. Just sayin’.
Honestly, the best review I’ve heard so far, is “not that bad”, and, “it’s okay”. Not enough for me to spend 10 bucks so that I can guiltlessly “form my own opinion”. I’ll wait for the DVD…or Netflix. Maybe.
June 27th, 2011 at 5:02 am
Reading Secret origins by Geoff Johns from a couple of years ago, which introduced Atrocitus as the villain, and the origin story from 20 years ago + which had Legion as a villain, amplifies my disappointment in the film. If it was done correctly, with a much better script GL would have been classic. Should have stuck with the one villain, have Sinestro be in a teacher/student friendship with Hal, with tiny glimpses of his eventual villainous ways coming to the surface. Should have stuck with Hammond as the villain, or introduce either Legion or Atrocitus, where the latter can be used for possible future films. Also I feel Parrallax should have been introduced in later sequels although have references to him during the 1st film wouldn’t hurt.
June 27th, 2011 at 5:11 am
i don’t think johns dialoue is bad and even if it was the plot suck monkey balls,really they should have taken a leaf from the FIRST FLIGHT movie(though not that good highly supirior compared)paralax after a build up of cosmic negative emotion is reborn and Sinestro tied of being clean up or a nanny force attempts to harness the power but abin is badly wounded by him and stop Sinestros plan (or slows it down when it is revealed later)
then Hal getting the ring for a while is recruited trained fiights on an alien planet sees sinestros bad side but forced to forget due to paralax roaming free after the laturns weaken paralax but hal finishes it off on earth. in stead 3-4 enemies are put in the same plot with no logical co herency… John stewart or guy gardner better be in the sequels is all i’m saying.
June 27th, 2011 at 7:04 am
I knew GL would have a huge drop. Was pretty excited to see how big it would turn out to be, i guess 65% is awesome enough. I mean, GL is a kids movie, and cars 2 is a kids movie.
June 27th, 2011 at 7:20 am
So was superman and Who framed roger rabit (if they were aloud to here the dirty jokes) but it had a well thought out plot (Superman was a little light on plot and obvious but done well) i did enjoy the movie when i saw it. But i had to turn my brain off (the comic book side not the average joe) really it’s very Michael Bay Transformers all over agian…
June 27th, 2011 at 8:06 am
They kinda have no choice. I mean if they can’t get this thing off the ground its an epic fail..and a def impact to any JL aspirations. The GL world is so rich with possibilities..How can you NOT make a decent movie?
I was worried about thor..mainly them hitting off the mystical/magic parts in the right way. But they def did. Marvel is def kick tail right now and establishing new movies brands..Whereas DC keeps relying on supes and bats
June 27th, 2011 at 8:42 am
DC’s movie failures fill me with great content and satisfaction. I pray that supsies movie fails as well. LONG LIVE THE MAHVEL MANNUH.
June 27th, 2011 at 9:06 am
Green Lantern sucked all kinds of balls. What would you expect from the writers of Heroes?
June 27th, 2011 at 9:06 am
too many fans are entrenched in nolstalgia for their expectations and don’t realize that the great movies they’re talking about had some very bad misteps in them.
Batman Begins had the trite and preachy dialogue of Caine’s Alfred, Holmes’ Rachel Dawes, Wilkinson’s Falcone, and Neeson’s Ducard/al Ghul. Iron Man had that god awful scene with Pepper and Stark replacing the arc-light battery–definitely cringe worthy; never mind the loads of exposition on his condition, and the business dealings. Of course, they had Downey Jr. for most of those scenes, but that’s more to his acting ability than the actual script.
Iron Man could’ve been a mess, but it wasn’t as Downey essentially sold the dialogue. Batman Begins survived because audiences already had suspension of disbelief after 4 movies (3 of which were mediocre).
I’m just surprised that critics were forgiving for those movies with their failings than they are with Green Lantern that legitimately avoided many of those failings.
June 27th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
I guess that special ’100 Ring Giveaway’ sponsored by WB Consumer Marketing guru, Brad Globe really worked out well for them. All those celebrities who were given free silver GL rings really hit the pavement promoting. They should have sponsored a contest for the 100 top GL fans and given it to them; they would have spread positive word of mouth for the film just as an act of loyalty unlike the goofballs Globe gave them to.
June 27th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
I blame Michael Clarke Duncan ever movie he is in just sucks. If he signs on, it just lowers the standards.
D
June 27th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Ignore the critics. I caught GREEN LANTERN last weekend and, while not a perfect film, it’s still enjoyable. Ryan Reynolds held it down as Hal Jordan, Blake Lively was eye candy and everything else was straight. Wish I could say the same for the writers. If anything, I was disappointed that the creators of GREEN LANTERN wasn’t full credited, but I guess we’ll have to wait for the special features disc when it its DVD. Hopefully the second film will be up to snuff.
June 27th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
All the space-opera stuff worked quite well, and they should focus on that aspect of the character. Perhaps introduce the Manhunters and have Sinestro lead them against the Green Lantern Corps in an all out war (star war?). The bad reviews began early on when the first trailers were released that featured Blake Lively’s incredibly bad acting. I think that they tried to squeeze too much into the movie. Hector Hammond and his relationship with his father, as well as his obsession with Carol, etc., just dragged the film down. I hope that the studio will still put up enough money for the sequel to give us the epic cosmic Green Lantern movie that we only glimpsed briefly in the first movie.
June 27th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
“…what movie could’ve survived the level of hype Green Lantern was shoved through?”
The Dark Knight did. But that was actually a good movie.
“Critics are overpaid clowns with hardly anything constructive to say about our genre of movies, and you’re going to let them rule your brain.”
Except in instances when they praise a superhero movie (i.e. Iron Man, Spider-Man 2, The Dark Knight, etc.), right? Then it’s okay. Then they know what they’re talking about.
June 27th, 2011 at 8:06 pm
I really enjoyed this film. It’s unfortunate its not doing so good. I actually want to go see it again.
June 28th, 2011 at 12:01 am
I enjoyed this movie. It was very true to the material, and it handled the telling of his origin very well, while fitting more into it than I thought it would. Without feeling crowded. Hector Hammond as a pawn of Parallax, so not very villain-packed. And he was a human angle to something that was too big to identify Hal’s struggle with.
(As opposed to Rasputin turning into a giant monster in the first Hellboy and completely pulling me out of the experience.)
I wasn’t sure about Ryan Reynolds, but he did a very favorable job in the role. I’d still have preferred him in a Flash role, though.
Two thumbs up for a very solid movie.
June 28th, 2011 at 9:50 am
Even the elektra boards has posters claiming they enjoyed the movie and it wasn’t that bad. Lol.
June 28th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
I really liked the movie and don’t get why it was so critically panned. I bought some GL toys right after see it and the cashier asked how I like it and I told him the above and he thought people were expecting to see another Dark Knight…if this really is the case, then people are stupid. GL isn’t anywhere close to being Batman and frankly, I think DK was over hyped because of Ledger’s death…it was a bit too long and sluggish in points…and just like with the first Batman movie in ’89, it was more of a Joker movie than a Batman movie. So, now I’m ready to be raked over the coals for those statement.
P.S. I can’t wait for the GL sequel! Mark Strong was a great Sinestro!
June 29th, 2011 at 7:16 pm
I was one of the idiots that said it would be a hit citing Iron Man so sue me. Either way its funny cuz the merch isn’t moving anywhere. They’ll quick reevaluate the sequel once those soft overseas numbers trickle in.
June 29th, 2011 at 10:50 pm
This is truly a bizarre summer for comic book adaptations – Thor & Xmen First class are bigger box office successes than Priest & Green lantern. I have seen all four and where Xmen & Thor provide mindless cookie cutter dribble (although I’ll give Xmen a few points for the last 15 minutes) with little emotional connection and predictable action, GL & Priest provide clever, witty push the envelope, new stories and action.
I really can’t get my head around this… It reminds of how Firefly was poorly received; what an outstanding series/movie (Serenity) and yet it missed the mark… Why?
It seems that safety and going with what you know seems to be the norm over quality and innovation.
I think if Priest & GL were released a year earlier or after Iron Man (an excellent film by the way followed by a a cookie cutter sequel that fits right in with Thor & First Class) we would have had kudos and praise for both of them. Cinematography, acting, script and story were all far superior in GL/Priest vs. Xmen/Thor. I hope the true movie going public will, in time, see GL & Priest the same way Firefly/Serenity is now revered.
Looking forward to the Avengers but Paaaaleeeez don’t do a sequel to Thor or First Class!!! Instead make sequels to GL & Priest and I hope the movie going public will have caught up to artistry over lameness by then.