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Recently, news came out that Warner Brothers was considering several actors for the role of Green Lantern; Ryan Reynolds, Bradley Cooper, Justin Timberlake, Jared Leto, and a few others. The list sent a mini shockwave throughout the blogosphere, with everyone with a keyboard and a masturbatory infatuation with their own opinion – guilty – weighing in on the candidates. Then, as quickly as the news came out, the studio simmered us all down by announcing that Reynolds was the choice. W.B’s public invitation to the casting process generated significant buzz for a movie that hasn’t even set a shooting schedule. Well done fellas. But why stop there?
If a studio has three to five guys (or ladies) circled for a role, why not hold a vote? Think about it. What if, a couple weeks ago, Warner Brothers came out and said that “we’ve narrowed our choice for Green Lantern down to three talented, terrific actors and we want the fans to let us know who they’d want to see play Hal Jordan.” Isn’t this a win-win for everyone involved? By being ‘included’ in the process, viewers are going to be inherently more invested in the finished product. If you voted, and your guy won, wouldn’t you want to see how he does? For the studio, they get people excited and talking about their project months before its release date. And, they end up with the actor the ‘people’ want to see. Couldn’t you see a marketing campaign centered around this idea: “Come See America’s Superhero.”
Now saying that, wouldn’t this be absolutely perfect for Captain America? Supposedly the iconic superhero has a solo movie coming out in 2011 and then he’ll be a part of the Avengers blockbuster the following summer. I’m not going to pretend that I have any clue who’s being circled, but what’s wrong with Marvel releasing their three favorites and letting the country vote? This would work. You could also have the actors – if they wanted to – actively campaign for the role. They could document why they’d be the best bet via youtube videos, web sites, press releases, etc. This would be captivating stuff. All of a sudden you’d have an eagerly anticipated movie before the basic parts are even assembled.
But I guess I understand why a mega movie like Captain America may prove too risky to test this out on. You wouldn’t want to get people too excited, too soon, and then lose all the established momentum because you’re still a year+ away from releasing it. Also, the worst case scenario – that it backfires and kills the picture – is, yes, bad for any movie, but could be crippling for a studio if it’s a big budget tentpole. So why not try this out on a horror movie or a romantic comedy? Television has been absolutely redefined by fan involvement. There’s a reason why American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, and America’s Got Talent are three of the most watched shows of their respective seasons. If you let us participate, we will participate. I think it’s as simple as that.
So there you go Hollywood. Borrow the idea, bastardize it, do what ever you’d like with it. Publish ten alternate endings to a story, have the fans vote on the best climax, film the winner, then force people to go to the movie if they want to see which sequence was selected. List a cast of characters from a slasher flick, a brief paragraph on who’s who, and then have people vote on who they want to see die first. You could have them vote on how’d you like to see them die. Go crazy. Is this a flawless idea? Of course not. But interactive filmmaking is a concept with enough potential that it’d be worth giving a shot. I know if, today, a studio gave me a smidgen of say in the movie-making process, I’m in. Even it’s for the next John Cena flick. Let us know what you think – would this work? – and stay tuned for more Fresh Frat ideas.
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