As was widely reported before the holidays, the casting choices for Carol Ferris were narrowed down to five finalists. Today the Hollywood Reporter has indicated that Blake Lively has won the role in the Green Lantern live-action film.

According to the report, Lively was chosen over the other actresses based in part with her acting in a film titled The Town which is currently in post-production and an impressive screen test despite Lively being a little young for the role. Other leading candidates for the role included Keri Russell, Jennifer Garner, Diane Kruger, and Eva Green.

It’s no surprise to hear casting news in light of the fact that Warner Brothers earlier this week gave the official green light for production to begin in March in New Orleans. The casting process will shift to the characters of Hector Hammond and Sinestro.

Members of the fan community have responded somewhat negatively to the news of the Lively’s casting, with most fans indicating a preference for Eva Green or Diane Kruger. I myself will reserve judgment since, as I mentioned in my earlier post about the subject, I haven’t really seen her in anything. My hope is that Lively looks a little older with dark hair. I have no reason to doubt director Martin Campbell’s judgment at this point, but he has had the benefit of seeing footage from the upcoming film The Town and obviously sees something in her that makes him think that Lively is the right choice.

What I found very interesting was the comments about the script – the Hollywood Reporter indicates that Michael Goldenberg is currently rewriting the script. Goldenberg’s credits include Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the 2003 film version of Peter Pan. With filming to begin in around eight weeks we can expect that there will be many more announcements.