In an exclusive interview with MTV’s Splashpage, Green Lantern director Martin Campbell not only shoots down the Jackie Earle Haley rumor, but he also says that Mark Strong, who can currently be seen in the Sherlock Holmes film as Lord Blackwood, is in negotiations to play Sinestro.

There had been rumors that Haley would be Sinestro since October and that rumor resurfaced earlier this week from a non-official source who claimed that Haley was the studio’s only choice for the role. Haley himself denied the rumor after it first surfaced and Campbell claims that he had never heard is himself. While Haley may be a very capable actor, I personally have thought he’d be more suited for the Hector Hammond role, or maybe Abin Sur.

Strong will be appearing in Kick-Ass, a film based on a Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. property and played the main villain, Septimus, in the film adaptation of the Neil Gaiman’s Stardust. According to Campbell’s comments, he feels that Strong’s “not only a wonderful actor, but he looks like Sinestro.”

Like Peter Sarsgaard, who is in negotiations to play Hector Hammond, Strong has not actually been signed for the role yet. However, it’s not usually mentioned that actors are in negotiations if it is pretty much a done deal, although some times those negotiations do fall through. If both Sarsgaard and Strong sign for the film they will join Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, who signed on last week to portray Carol Ferris.

In addition to mentioning Strong, Martin Campbell also confirmed that Kilowog and Tomar-Re would be appearing in the film, as would Abin Sur who obviously would be there to pass the ring on to Hal Jordan.