10 Overly-Optimistic Attempts To Launch A Movie Franchise

5. Green Lantern

Power Rangers
Warner Bros.

Up until very recently, it had been incredibly difficult for a DC comic book hero to appear in a movie if their name wasn't Batman or Superman. Cinematic atrocities like Catwoman, Jonah Hex and Martin Campbell's $200 million misfire Green Lantern were major reasons why. Instead of launching an epic sci-fi superhero franchise, the overly-expensive production made a huge financial loss and increased criticism of DC's inability to make decent movies that don't feature either of the 'Big Two'.

Green Lantern is a character that you could fashion a potentially incredible movie out of. This is pretty much the opposite. Campbell's previous work gave no indication he would be right for the job of helming a CGI space bonanza and it shows; the action is uninspiring, the character doesn't make decent use of his powers and the villain is a f**king cloud.

After earning just $220 million at the box office, and a reputation as one of the most disappointing comic book movies ever made, all the pre-release discussion of potential sequels instantly stopped. Now, with the DCEU currently in its expansion phase, maybe somebody will be able to get Green Lantern right.

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