So, according to Deadline.com it’s all but a done deal and Jon M. Chu will be the next director in the G.I. Joe motion picture franchise.  So, what does this mean, in the grand scheme of things?  Eh, who knows?  All I know is the only Hollywood motion pictures Chu has directed were Step Up 3D and Never Say Never starring Justin Bieber, which leaves me with little confidence that he can handle a potential big budget action blockbuster.
Does that mean he can’t do it?  No.  It just leaves me with little confidence.  I really struggle to figure out how Paramount thinks a director who has spent much of his career filming song and dance videos and films is the right guy for a fast-paced action film, but hey, maybe they know something I don’t.
Now I won’t sit here and say this film now has no hope.  I feel good about the writing team.  I feel good that (unlike the first film) there is actually a cohesive writing process, instead of dealing with a writer’s strike and making things up on the fly.
There was also a quick little interaction at JoeCon last year between Alan Hassenfeld and one of the media directors during the Hassenfeld presentation, where it was abundantly clear that Hassenfeld wasn’t especially happy with how the Joe brand had been perceived post Rise of Cobra, and that we should all expect (and deserve) better.
Time will tell…we now have an official starting point and probably a good two years of build up before we find out what the pay off is.  Hopefully it’s worth the wait.  Thanks to Mysterious Stranger for passing the information along.