DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns announced on Twitter this past Friday that production has wrapped on Martin Campbell’s (Casino Royale) superhero film Green Lantern. Shooting began in February 2010 in New Orleans, and lasted 100 days. In other news, the film’s co-scribe Michael Goldenberg (Contact, Harry Potter) has been hired as screenwriter for Green Lantern 2. Earlier in June, Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, and Marc Guggenheim were reported to be working on a treatment for the inevitable sequel, as well as DC’s next likely franchise, The Flash. Too bad, Ryan Reynolds would’ve been perfect. (/Film, Bleeding Cool)

It is worth remembering that while you can pick up a lot of free comics on Free Comic Book Day, the holiday does not mean that everything in the store is free.  This subtle nuance was apparently lost on one Australian man, who tried to make off with a $160 (in Aussie money) volume of the X-Men Omnibus.

He was stopped in his tracks by, I kid you not, Spider-Man, The Flash, and two Jedi.

The part of Adelaide’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was played by store owner Michael Baulderstone.  He explains:

We had about 40 people dressed up as their favourite superheroes to celebrate International Free Comic Day, so he didn’t have much of a choice but to hand the X-Men Omnibus back after a little bit of a scuffle.  I’ve had a look at the security footage and it shows Spider-Man running down the corridor of the shop, grabbing this guy, hauling him off.  Everyone in the store thought it was a play, that it was street theatre of some sort. It wasn’t until I said `Call the police’ that people started to realise.

The Flash and the two Jedi were simply some of those fans, who stepped up to Baulderstone’s call for “people to stand near the door.”

It was a bit serious at the time, but now we’re looking back laughing at what greeted police when they arrived.

Video from the store security camera is below, but be warned: Nothing will be more awesome than what is already going on in your head.

(Story via Geeks Are Sexy, picture via The Herald Sun)

Now that the Harry Potter franchise is finally kicking the bucket (in 2011 with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II), Warner Brothers is looking for another cash cow of beloved characters to drive its infernal engine, and it didn’t have to look far.

Yesterday, at Showest, WB head Alan Horn said this:

As we ease out of Harry Potter, we hope to bring you the excitement of the DC [Comics] Library!

This would imply that DC character based movies will be released yearly, like the Harry Potter films, and, according to another Showest announcement, will be in 3-D.

Internet speculation, of course, is already all over the possibilities.  After all, the only DC superhero projects known to be in some stage of production at this time are Green Lantern, Batman 3, The Flash and a new Superman reboot.  So we’re good until… 2014.

After that?  Well, there’s always sequels (even if Christopher Nolan wants to end his story with Batman 3).  What else?  Well, there’s Lobo.  And I’d love to see a sequel to Constantine.  No, really!  And what about that Captain Marvel movie with The Rock as Black Adam that I heard about once?  What happened to that?  Come on, people!

(/Film via Bleeding Cool.)