Earlier this week Hitflix ran a report about the “Green Lantern” film that said, despite word to the contrary — it was denied by the actor at one point — “Jackie Earle Haley is the only choice for Sinestro by the studio.”
But whoops, that appears to be erroneous information. “Green Lantern” director Martin Campbell told MTV today, “No, that’s completely wrong,” of the Jackie Earle Haley misinformation that refuses to die. “In fact, we’re in negotiations with Mark Strong to play Sinestro.”
So, if you had any doubt Sinestro would actually appear in the film, you can now put them aside (though he’s rumored to not be the villain in the film and will be around to set up the inevitable sequel).
“He’s not only a wonderful actor, but he looks like Sinestro,” Campbell said. “If you look up old pictures of Sinestro, he’s very like him. The Jackie Earle Haley thing, somebody told me about it this morning; I had never heard it before in my life.”
Strong you’ll remember was the villain in Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” and is becoming the villain of choice for studios these days (he’s also a villain — or traitor stirring up civil war if you want to be precise — in Ridley Scott’s upcoming “Robin Hood”). That role will eventually get old for him, but frankly, it’s not a bad choice as he is a great actor and the idea of Jackie Earle Haley felt a little cartoonish.
“Green Lantern” is quickly racking up a great cast. Ryan Reynolds, while no Robert Downey Jr. is charismatic and knows his way around comedy, so if the rumors of an “Iron Man”-like film are true with light, comedic moments, he should be very comfortable in this role (also, see his understated performance in Greg Mottola’s “Adventureland” to witness, yes, he can act).
Eyebrows might have been raised about “Gossip Girl” Blake Lively being hired as the love interest (and out-auditioning people like Jennifer Garner and more established Hollywood actresses), but mark our words: she’s going to be a huge star. And not just for her looks. The few percentage of people that saw “The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee,” can attest that Lively held her own against folks like Alan Arkin and Julianne Moore (really, she blew us away, and we were taken aback by how good she was). She’s also going to be appearing in Ben Affleck’s “The Town” this fall, and Affleck has raved about her performance in the most recent issue of Esquire. Again, she apparently blew the doors off her audition and frankly, just based off ‘Pippa Lee,’ we’re not surprised. Affleck said she, “crushed it.”
Strong is a true actor too, so despite being skeptical about comic-book films often. This one is shaping up to be great (let’s not forget Peter Sarsgaard is in talks to play Dr. Hector Hammond, the main villain of the picture).
Now Campbell just needs to be able to brave what might be poor reviews for his long-delayed Mel Gibson film, “The Edge Of Darkness” which was dumped into a not-so-good-looking late January (20th) release.
Update: In another interview with the L.A. Times, “Green Lantern” director Martin Campbell, the filmmaker calls the Jackie Earle Haley rumors total, “rubbish.” But more importantly he says they are trying to get Mark Strong on board, but his schedule is hectic because he’s in demand. That sounds like Strong wants to do it, but it might not happen because of conflics. Hmm, we’ll have to keep an eye on this development.