Corona | Coming Attractions

Green Lantern helmer Martin Campbell has gone on the record and said that there's no truth to rumors that Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) is a candidate at all for the part of Sinestro, Hal Jordan's mentor in the Green Lantern Corps. "The Jackie Earle Haley thing, somebody told me about it this morning; I had never heard it before in my life," Campbell told MTV's Splash Page.

Campbell then went on to say who he knew was the leading candidate for the part. "In fact, we're in negotiations with Mark Strong to play Sinestro. He's not only a wonderful actor, but he looks like Sinestro... If you look up old pictures of Sinestro, he's very like him."

Strong can be seen on screen right now as the villainous Lord Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes.

Peter Sarsgaard is in talks to play the main villain of the Green Lantern movie, Hector Hammond. The Hollywood Reporter spoils how Hector becomes a superpowered villain in the film: a meteor infuses him powerful psychic powers which he eventually uses against G.L.

Blake Lively has won the role of Carol Ferris, the love interest of Green Lantern. The 22-year-old actress is best known for her recurring role on Gossip Girl.

In the movie's script Ferris is the CEO of Ferris Aircraft, the daughter of the company's founder. She runs a tight ship and initially rebutes Hal Jordan's romantic advances because she doesn't believe in getting involved with the hired help.

According to Ain't It Cool, Watchmen star and new Freddy Krueger actor Jackie Earle Haley is the top candidate to play Sinestro, Hal Jordan's mentor into the Green Lantern corps. At last night's Scream awards Collider asked Haley if there was any truth to the rumor. "I don't know anything about it yet," Haley remarked. "If something comes up I'll let you know."

It's official: the Green Lantern movie will not film in Australia. The Australian dollar has shot up 30% from where it was at six months ago when the WB project announced that it would film in New South Wales, making it almost at par with the U.S. dollar. According to THR, the project is now looking at locations in Mexico or Canada, but if the strength of the country's dollar is a major factor in where the film will shoot, Canada may not be a viable option either. That country's dollar is nearly at par with the American and could go past 1.00 in value in the coming weeks.

Spoilter TV has published the casting call info for four of the film's characters: love interest Carol Ferris; Ferris Aircraft employee and future Green Lantern supervillain Hector Hammond; Abin-Sur, the Green Lantern Corps member that bestows Hal Jordan with his ring; and Sinestro, the GL officer ordered to supervise the human's inclusion into the Corps.

Casting call announcements are sent to talent agencies so they can submit prospective actors to be considered for open parts. Here's what Spoiler TV originally broke:

[CAROL FERRIS]
26-32, a smart and attractive woman with an MBA. She started as a pilot and now runs Ferris Aircraft. She is a work-a-holic...FEMALE LEAD

[DR. HECTOR HAMMOND]
27-35, Character actor who is austere and impersonal, he is real "scummy." He is a pathologist and also the son of a Senator.

[SINESTRO]
Mid-30s to Mid-40s, he is smart, tough, intimidating and in great physical shape.

[ABIN SUR]
Mid-30s to mid-40s, he is a great warrior.

Coming Attractions can add on to Spoiler TV's report that there are still a number of parts to be filled for the movie including other Green Lantern Corps members like Kilowog and Tomar-Re, as well as a supporting role for a character that GL fans will identify, Alan Scott.

The Green Lantern movie is in danger of pulling out of Australia. As first reported by Inside Film, what has changed is the escalating value of the Australian dollar versus its U.S. counterpart. The site reports that Warner Bros. is in discussions with the government of New South Wales to try and deeper the tax credits given to foreign film productions to get back $15 million to $25 million dollars that has vanished due to the rising value of the Australian dollar. At stake are about 500 local jobs.

Slashfilm reported the Inside Film story and has added additional speculation supplied by a source for the site stating that the production is looking at New Oreleans as a possible replacement location.

According to The Hollywood Reporter's sources, it's down to Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Timberlake to play Hal Jordan. All three have had two sets of screen tests for the part and were on hold by the studio until this past Monday, meaning that they don't have to wait around anymore if a different studio approaches them for a part. The hold-up in making a decision seems to be that Warner Bros., director Martin Campbell and producer Donald De Line each have their own top pick and they're different from each other.

Other Green Lantern candidates considered were Jared Leto, Michael Fassbender and Henry Cavill.

Variety breaks the news that Ryan Reynolds has been cast as Green Lantern. The trade states that the option on Reynolds was extended past Monday whereas the other options on Bradley Cooper and Justin Timberlake were not.

When Reynolds plays DC Comics' cosmic superhero it will be his third time playing a character that originated in comic books. In Blade: Trinity the actor played Hannibal King, vampire slayer, and in X-Men Origins: Wolverine the 32-year-old starred as Deadpool. It will be interesting to see how the casting of Reynolds as one of DC Comics' most recognizable superheroes will effect him reprising his Deadpool role in the spinoff movie that's in development. Conceivably Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox may have issues over their Deadpool leading man also playing a different superhero in a competitor's movie.

Before Reynolds can begin work on Green Lantern he will star in the indie thriller Buried. Filming on Green Lantern is scheduled to kick off in January 2010.

AICN is reporting a user-submitted scoop that Justin Timberlake is supposedly doing a screen test for the role of Green Lantern. The site stresses that the singer/actor does not have the part and that he's one of several candidates being considered.

In an exclusive interview with the Think McFly Think website, Green Lantern screenwriter Marc Guggenheim said what he could about how his superhero movie project is coming along. "Green Lantern continues to move forward," he said. "But I can't say any more about it. I've signed a blood oath of secrecy."

Guggenheim said he is aware fans are concerned that the lead role has yet to be cast, but he said they have nothing to worry about. "I understand where the fans are coming from," he said. "I understand that people are passionate, but everything will work out." The writer also commented that he doesn't go on Internet message boards to see what people are writing about the movie but he does get an e-mail notice when new stories are written about the project. "I haven't gone on the boards, but I do have a Google alert," he said. "So if something gets written [about Green Lantern] and Google captures it, I see it." And through reading the stories, Guggenheim said he has noticed a common thread. "I can say don't believe all the rumors," he said. "In fact, I haven't read a single thing that is accurate." However, Guggenheim also tried to downplay his role in the process by saying he is "just the writer." "In fact," he said. "I have the Google alert so I can find out who is cast along with all of you."

Last Friday a new draft of the Green Lantern screenplay was turned in by writer Marc Guggenheim, the scribe revealed in an interview with Sci Fi Wire. Calling his and his collaborators' take "a very loving and respectful approach," on the Green Lantern mythos, Guggenheim said, "The goal here is to do the best cinematic representation of the Green Lantern character. You know, there's no desire on anyone's part to completely change the character and just call this other character Green Lantern and try to ... draft off the name recognition. This is all about 'How do we bring the best version of this character to the silver screen?'"

Guggenheim also shot down rumors that the main part has been filled. "They're still in the negotiations, you know? There's a lot of names being talked about, and there's a lot of people being met, and a lot of ... actors reading the script."

Warner Bros. has pushed back the release of its Green Lantern film from December 17, 2010 to June 17, 2011. That puts the cosmic emerald warrior opening one week ahead of Disney/Pixar's Cars 2 and two weeks after DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda 2.

Entertainment Weekly is downplaying the importance of Hitfix's report that Bradley Cooper is one of the top candidates to play Green Lantern. The magazine quotes an unnamed source that told them "He [Cooper] came in and met [director] Martin Campbell. He's definitely in contention, everyone's very interested in him, but it's far from being decided," EW's source says. "He's one of the people that's in serious consideration, but he's not in a negotiation."

Hitfix is reporting that Bradley Cooper is being heavily considered for the film's lead role. While he's not a household name Cooper has a ton of screen credits including The Rocker, Midnight Meat Train, Yes Man and He's Just Not That Into You -- and that's just in the past year. Cooper may also be remembered from his recurring role on ABC's Alias where he played Will Tippin.

Today the government of New South Wales confirmed that Green Lantern will shoot in Australia later this year, specifically at Fox Studios in Sydney. Full press release follows:

Premier Nathan Rees today announced that the new big-budget Hollywood film Green Lantern will be shot in NSW, creating around 500 jobs and providing a major boost for the economy.

Green Lantern will be produced by DC Comics and Warner Bros. with Director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale), Producer Donald Deline (Guardians of Ga’Hoole, The Italian Job) and Executive Producer Herb Gains (Watchmen).

"Bringing Green Lantern to NSW is a major coup,” Mr Rees said.

“The NSW Government has worked closely with Warner Bros. to ensure that it chose our State as the location for this big budget production.”

Following the recent NSW Job Summit, the Government announced a new package of screen industry incentives that would ensure NSW was the most attractive destination in Australia for major film projects.

“This policy is already paying off for the people of NSW,” Mr Rees said.

“Films such as this invest heavily in the local economy and the flow-on effects for local services such as transport, construction and the hotel industry.”

Mr Rees said that Green Lantern will shoot at Fox Studios in Sydney with a substantial investment in digital effects work – creating jobs for our highly-skilled creative workforce.

"Securing this movie will ensure skilled film crew stay in NSW,” Mr Rees said.

“The production is expected to employ 500 people at any given time, including 100 performers, 200 crew and thousands of extras.”

Mr Rees said that the high-profile international release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, filmed in Sydney last year, and the major animation productions Happy Feet 2 and Guardians of Ga’Hoole, currently in production in Sydney, had once again highlighted NSW as a first-class production destination.

“The decision to film Green Lantern here will further strengthen the State’s leadership in the film production industry both domestically and internationally.

“We have identified the creative industries as an important driver of economic activity and innovation and will continue to do whatever we can to attract more productions like this to Sydney and NSW.”

Minister for State Development Ian Macdonald said the film is great news for Sydney and NSW.

“Securing this major Hollywood film is a real coup, it will drive jobs in the sector and it’s also an acknowledgment of the current skills and expertise of our industry,” Mr Macdonald said.

“This is an excellent opportunity for the many talented people who work in front of the cameras and behind the scenes, complementing the NSW Government’s ongoing efforts to grow our creative industries.”

Chief Executive of Fox Studios Australia, Nancy Romano, applauds the Rees Government in securing this production.

“The decision by Warner Bros. to locate the production in New South Wales is tangible evidence that having a competitive incentive scheme in place returns positive results,” said Ms Romano.

“Warner Bros. has been a major supporter of New South Wales in past years and it is wonderful news that the State Government has embraced the opportunity to bring this major international production to Sydney and New South Wales.”

Green Lantern is expected to start pre-production in July 2009 and will begin filming in November 2009.