So when word emerged of the new “Jem and the Holograms” film being developed by G.I. Joe: Retaliation director Jon Chu (among others), some Joe fans perked up their ears. Isn’t the third G.I. Joe film underway? What’s up with that?
Well, Chu had a conversation with good friend of GeneralsJoes Brian Truitt from USA Today, and made some startling revelations that fell under the radar a bit (until /Film picked up on them).
According to Chu, The G.I. Joe 3 script is still getting finalized, so he was able to fit Jem into his schedule. But that does beg the question, with the length of time it takes to make a film, how “little” a window of time will this be, and how far does it push back the third Joe film?
Already some fans are calling the move catastrophic and saying it’s a clear sign that there is no faith in the third Joe film. I will be taking a more measured approach myself. You can check out the Twitter conversation with Brian Truitt below, and I am reaching out to Mr. Chu myself for some hopeful clarification. I’ll pass on whatever I can get.
@briantruitt PS Joe script is getting REALLY fun just taking alittle longer.I need it 2b perfect so decided 2try &fit a crazylittle movie in
— Jon M. Chu (@jonmchu) March 21, 2014
Exactly what I thought too… Also was the Masters of the Universe film totally scrapped?
I don’t believe so, but Chu is no longer attached to that project.
I don’t think its time to push the panic button yet myself. Its not like what happened with Retaliation. Usually there are several drafts of a script anyway so if they are taking time to perfect an idea then all power to them. And I think 2015 might be a bit early and would face tougher competition like the new Superman/Batman film and avengers 2 coming that year I believe. What needs to be addressed is a way to get a viable animated series out for a new generation of fans.
They had a great animated series, but they canceled it before is was out…so we only got a short season… I don’t have much hope for the Joe property…. Hasbro obviously doesn’t like Joe very much…
No, pretty sure if it were up to Hasbro, Joe would still be going strong whether it was popular or not. They can’t make a product that isn’t going to make them money. More than that, they can’t make a product that retailers don’t want to sell. People need to get rid of this mindset that Hasbro doesn’t care about Joe.
Well, now they don’t care
If they wanted it to be stronger they would make it so… but instead they screwed up a great Animated series, and have done nothing with it since. Have you been to a TRU lately? There is a product called Sentinels… They have a huge endcap display and a full row of product… While GI Joe has the 2 feet of space at the end of a star wars row, and it’s filled with Dino-Hunters, cosplay, and poorly made 12″ Joe’s… You might find 1 or 2 4″ carded Joe’s… I’d like to know why they canceled Renegades before it aired leaving us with only a partial season… While they kept making Transformers and kept it away from the movie continuity…They said they were re-vamping the Joe Animated to be inline with the movie… Why?… and where is it?… Hasbro only wants to deal with licensed material.. they don’t know how to deal with their own properties. They only make products for collectors now. There is almost no effort to bring in new fans… Kre-o is a start… but that’s more of the fans to convert their kids. They need an animated series and to be active in promoting new Joe stuff.
Hasbro has no control over how much shelf space is given to their product. That is up to retailers. If that’s all the space given to Joes at TRU then that’s all the space that TRU wants to give them. It’s the same for other retailers too. Wal-Mart has no interest in GIJoe, which is why they have no space for GIJoe. Same with Target. Again, Hasbro can’t make a product if no one wants to sell it. Right now, TRU is the only one that wants to carry it which is why the 50th line is exclusive to them.
Renegades got a full season. I don’t know why you seem to think otherwise, but the whole season aired. If you haven’t seen it all, then that’s your fault. Pretty sure it wasn’t canceled before it aired either. As for not knowing how to deal with their own properties, they seem to be doing just fine with Transformers. My Little Pony looks like it’s doing well. Jem is getting a movie. Nerf still seems to be popular.
GIJoe hasn’t been a big seller for a long time. Action figures in general aren’t doing so well. Hasbro would love to have GIJoe on the shelves everywhere, but as I said, retailers aren’t interested.
They do have a decision in shelf space. If they put out product and attempted to market and sell it then they would get space. Also why does Sentinels have so much space? I’ve been talking with Kirk Bozigian… Former Head of Hasbro’s Boy toys a lot about it, he is just as frustrated at the lack of enthusiasm for G.i. Joe.
Hasbro did screw up Renegades. They canceled it before it even aired, to create a new series that tied into the movies… But that never happened. After the series was aired it was surprisingly popular to Hasbro and they were not prepared… I have seen it all I own it on DVD, digital download, and Blu-Ray and it’s on Netflix. It had an “end” but it was suppose to continue. And that stupid Transformers Prime continues… I like the series, but Renegades was way better… There was no product that came out with the series and the series was canned before it was released… How stupi was that? Hasbro barely tolerates G.I. Joe… That is what all the evidence tells me.
I don’t know why you keep thinking that about Renegades, but that’s not what happened. It got a full first season. THEN it got canceled. NO ONE produces a full season of a TV Show like that and then cancels it before it even airs. That’s just ridiculous. The reason there was no product for it when it aired was because they wanted it to stand on it’s own and not look like a glorified toy commercial. They did the same with Prime. Hasbro cares about Joe. If they had it their way, there would be lots of product on the shelves for everyone. It’s the retailers that don’t. It’s the kids that don’t. Joe has been limping along for years. They tried to recapture interest with Retaliation,but unfortunately circumstances were working against them.
Do some research man. It takes a long time to produce a show. And by the time we see an episode usually the whole season has been filmed. In the case of renegades after they finished production there were no more episodes ordered and that took place before the show ever aired on the hub. It happened to Firefly and a ton of other shows… Drive, Wonderfalls, just to name a few.
Well, duh. They’re not going to order more episodes until they see how the show does first. That doesn’t mean the show is canceled before it airs. That’s just stupid. And no, most shows generally don’t film an entire season before airing it unless it’s a show just starting and has a short first season (such as those shows you mention). You generally find that with shows that are mid-season premiers.
Sorry, Erik, but mamunestor is right. As part of the podcast, we’ve done several interviews directly with the voice actors, and to a person, they all confirmed they got notifications of the show’s cancellation before the show even aired its first episode.
It’s strange, it makes absolutely no sense, but according to people directly involved in the creation of the animated series, it’s true.
GIJoe 2 was, to be kind, sucky. And they reward this director with Jem, which makes me fear for that project. Think killing Duke was a mistake.
Wow, did you like the First Joe live action? Joe 2 the extended action cut, was AWESOME. Way better than the general release, but I still really liked both versions.
Well, to clarify, I think going from Channing Tatum to The Rock as a lead was a lateral move.
And now… some Bad Bludd Poetry.