DC Comics CCO Geoff Johns Tweefed Saturday that the Martin Campbell-directed, Ryan Reynolds-starring Green Lantern movie had wrapped production in New Orleans. It’s not scheduled for release until next June, but apparently WB is so tumescent with the idea of Ryan Reynolds’ abs in 3D that they’ve already hired a writer for the sequel.  For the first movie, Michael Goldenberg rewrote a script by Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim.  WB hired the same trio to write a treatment for the sequel, and now Goldenberg has been hired to write that, presumably to give the other three more time to troll JDate for hot tail.

“Green Lantern” wasn’t cheap, reportedly costing upwards of $150 million. You don’t even need to read the Variety report to figure out what the sequel will be about. Mark Strong, who plays Sinestro, has already said several times — and just recently again — that his character is not a villain in the first film and “Green Lantern” essentially sets up his character as the antagonist in the sequel (Sinestro initially plays the protagonist Hal Jordan’s mentor). [ThePlaylist]

Any time I read the phrase “sets up for a the sequel”, the prickly hairs on my balls stand up as I remember the utterly pointless two-hour prologue that was Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, but perhaps (hopefully) that’s an unfair comparison. I just hope we get something faithful to the original comic book, where an alien comes to Earth and gives his special ring to a muscular youth in spandex tights, and not something super gay.

UPDATE: As a reader pointed out, it does look rather like The Phantom, doesn’t it. But that’s Billy Zane for you.  So influential.  Responsible for nearly everything, but too modest to take credit.

Well here it is, the new Entertainment Weekly cover featuring the first official picture of Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern (directed by Martin Campbell, Blake Lively as the love interest, Mark Strong as the villain — in 3D!).  The picture’s sort of small and I’m pretty sure I could’ve made this in Photoshop, but that didn’t stop “Ryan Reynolds” from being the number two one trending topic on Twitter.  Get excited?  I guess.  It opens next June.  Between this and Thor, it seems like someone’s really trying to make strapless eyewear happen. (I like it because it keeps my eye patch’s panty lines from showing through my ski mask.  Tack-y.)

Though Reynolds has prior experience in the superhero realm from his role as Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, playing Green Lantern involved some major challenges, like getting hurled through the air on a wire at up to 60 feet per second [about 41 miles per hour] to create the illusion of flight. “The first time you do it, you’re seriously considering an adult diaper,” Reynolds says. Still, he couldn’t resist the chance to play the beloved DC Comics hero, whose power ring can conjure virtually anything he can dream up. “Will and imagination are his superpowers,” Reynolds says. “We need a circus of Timothy Learys to think of things Hal would invent with his ring.” [popwatch]

That’s a relief.  I’ve had this script I wrote, Ryan Reynolds in an Adult Diaper, sitting around for years, but I was always worried he wouldn’t read it.

RELATED ASYLUM POLL: Are you buying Ryan Reynolds as The Green Lantern?

Guy Ritchie has agreed to direct a film adaptation of the DC Comic Lobo for Warner Bros, which is interesting, because if I were him, I’d be down at the print shop making business cards that said “Director of Snatch.” Anyway, apparently the character was originally meant to be a parody, though it’s unclear whether the film will be. From Wiki:

An alien, Lobo works as an interstellar mercenary and bounty hunter. Although introduced as a hardened, rarely-used noir villain in the 1980s, he languished in limbo until his revival as an anti-hero biker in the early 1990s. The character enjoyed a short run as one of DC’s most popular characters throughout the 1990s. This version of Lobo was intended to be an over-the-top parody of Marvel Comics superhero Wolverine. “I have no idea why Lobo took off,” [co-creator Keith] Giffen once said in an interview. Referring to the 1990s incarnation of Lobo he created, he said, “I came up with him as an indictment of the Punisher, Wolverine, hero prototype and somehow he caught on as the high violence poster boy. Go figure.”

Says Variety:
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It’s officially time to scrape the bottom of the comic-book barrel.  WB has announced that The Green Lantern will shoot in Australia with Casino Royale director Martin Campbell and a $150 million budget. Besides a favorable exchange rate, the government of New South Wales also provides a 15% “location rebate.”  The lead hasn’t been named yet, but rumors thus far have included Emile Hirsch, Anton Yelchin, Sam Worthington, and Ryan Gosling.

To put the budget in perspective (and these are all estimated numbers…), Fantastic Four was $100M, Iron Man was $140M, Watchmen was $150M, The Dark Knight was $185M, X-Men: The Last Stand was $210M and Spider-Man 3 topped $258M. [/Film]

Keep in mind, The Green Lantern gets his superpowers from a magic ring.  No, really.  An alien named Abin-Sur crash lands on Earth, meets a young man, and likes him so much he puts a ring on him.  And the ring inspires the him to put on a full-body spandex suit and knee-high green F-me boots.  What that has to do with lanterns, I have no idea.  Maybe when he’s not fighting crime, he’s really into shabby chic.