Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool, but playing Hal Jordan in "Green Lantern" could have killed his career. On paper, "Green Lantern" seemed to have a lot going for it, as it was directed by Martin Campbell, who re-launched the James Bond franchise twice, with "GoldenEye" and "Casino Royale," and also directed the well-regarded Zorro reboot "The Mask of Zorro." What went wrong? Everything. Studio interference, multiple rewrites and reshoots, Campbell and Reynolds not getting along, an expensive last-minute 3D conversion, and the fact that Campbell, a gifted action director, simply didn't understand (or even really like) CGI special effects.
The budget ballooned to a stupid $200 million, meaning this B-level DC character would need to earn Batman and Wonder Woman numbers to break even. He didn't. "Green Lantern" lost a lot of green, earning $116 million domestically and $219 million worldwide, for a loss of about $181 million. With massive bombs "Green Lantern" in 2011 and "R.I.P.D." in 2013, plus lots of smaller flops here and there, we're honestly surprised Reynolds was able to get work in anything other than community theater productions. "Green Lantern" wasn't a total loss, though. Reynolds married his co-star Blake Lively in 2012, a relationship that has produced three kids and countless sardonic social media posts. Hopefully, the engagement ring Reynolds gave her wasn't green.
