The Green Lantern series that is being developed to premiere on the HBO Max platform will go through several changes, particularly related to its writing. The scripts will focus on new characters. The project had been in development since 2019 and was already well advanced, but the departure of a key person delayed everything. Now the approach will be different.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Seth Grahame-Smith (Dark Shadows, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter) was the person in charge of shaping the chapters and, in fact, he already had the finished scripts for eight episodes for a full season. However, he left the production in the face of the wave of changes that the merger of Warner Bros. Discovery has brought.
What motivated the departure of Seth Grahame-Smith?
At one point, producer Greg Berlanti described the series of Green Lantern as the “biggest ever made based on DC”, with an estimated budget of $120 million dollars. This would have made it the most expensive television production in the franchise.
However, the cutback policies of David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, seem to have been to blame for the first incarnation of the show not coming to fruition.
In that sense, the sources insist that it was not Grahame-Smith’s proposal that condemned his vision, but its high price. His eight dashes are expected to be included in the company’s upcoming tax deductions. Also, the budget of the next version would be considerably reduced.
What will happen to the Green Lantern series?
Taking advantage of the readjustment, production will now focus on John Stewartwho first appeared in comics in the early 1970s. The Sidney Poitier-inspired character was one of the first black superheroes.
The same insiders they say that the character of John was off the table for the producers when the project began to conceive. However, with the recent departure of Walter Hamada, president of DC Films, the decision was made to build it around Stewart.
Originally, the series Green Lantern by Grahame-Smith was going to revolve around Guy Gardner and Alan Scott, the first openly gay Lantern. In fact, the actors who would star in said version had already been selected: Jeremy Irvine (treadstone) and Finn Wittrock (Ratcheted), respectively.
Despite the change, Greg Berlanti, who was on board from the beginning and will continue to be a part of the series, still wants to work with both performers. We’ll see if his return is confirmed.
As more details about the Green Lantern series are revealed, you can learn the new details of HBO’s Arkham Asylum project.
Jose Roberto Landaverde Film buff and music lover. I am fascinated by writing, listening, reading and commenting on everything related to the seventh art. I am a fan of Rocky and Back to the Future and of course one day I will climb the “Philly Steps” and drive a DeLorean. Faithful believer that the cinema is the best teleportation machine, and also that we can all see ourselves represented on the big screen. Constantly, like Scott Pilgrim, I ask myself: “Does bread make you fat?”