Green Lantern Reportedly Scrambling to Finish Effects, But Hey - Look at Kilowog!

Variety reports that Warner Bros.'s last-minute Green Lantern VFX efforts have gone over budget to the tune of $9 million as the studio races to finish -- and, one hopes, finish in high quality -- the final touches on the CG-heavy June 17 release. Coincidentally, today WB released new images of Green Lantern Corps. members Kilowog and Sinestro, which look pretty darn impressive. Check 'em out after the jump and hear more of the summer blockbuster squeeze hitting a number of this season's biggest releases.

The Variety report calls attention to the diminishing window that contemporary tent pole filmmaking allows for crucial visual effects work; with release dates often set in advance of production, VFX work is the most time-intensive part of the process and the one that most often feels the time crunch of a fixed date of completion.

WB's Green Lantern and its current scramble to finish effects is the focus of the report, but it's certainly not alone; this summer's Captain America and Transformers: Dark of the Moon are in similar situations, according to Variety, but have a few weeks' worth of lead time on the fantasy-heavy superhero pic, which relies much more on CG-crafted environments and creatures.

But, perhaps to dispel worries that Green Lantern might not finish on time, two character posters from the film hit the web (get high res versions at Yahoo!) today giving Green Lanterns Sinestro (Mark Strong) and Kilowog (Michael Clarke Duncan) their close-ups. Photoshop Lite character art this ain't. Fingers crossed that the Green Lantern effects corps. delivers on the detailed cosmic polish seen here when the final cut lands in theaters.

[Yahoo! Movies, Variety]