Despite the chilly reception audiences gave Green Lantern, Warner Bros. intends to go through with its plans for a sequel. Executives feel the series has legs despite a significant drop (66 percent) in revenue from its opening weekend to this past weekend. Besides that, its contemporaries, Thor and X-Men: First Class, had similar dull reactions this summer, each one doing a tad less business than the last. However, every studio needs a tentpole to fund its investments; Warner Bros. seem keen on Green Lantern to earn some green when Harry and his magical friends bid farewell in a few weeks.
The tactic is not far-fetched. In fact, many movies do better on the first sequel and drop off significantly after that. Since Green Lantern was an origin story, it was a clunky and difficult story to make interesting. However, any subsequent films would likely focus on bravado and tension rather than sentiment and character introductions. These are the things audiences prefer in their summer popcorn movies. If the studio goes through with the sequel, it likely will scale back the production cost and marketing by half. The disappointing debut was one of the most expensive movies to make and market of all time.
How about you? Should there be a Green Lantern sequel?
