With Byung Hun Lee out doing the interview circuit for his new film The Magnificent Seven, it’s natural that some questions would come up regarding his role in the G.I. Joe movie franchise. Speaking with LRM, the Korean actor said that:
“…that there’s a possibility to do the third one, but I think they’re waiting for the actors’ schedules. They’re arranging the schedules for the actors, especially Dwayne Johnson.”
While it is nice to hear some talk of the next installment in the G.I. Joe film franchise, I don’t think it surprises anyone that they’re building the next installment around Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Already one of the most popular actors on the planet when he filmed G.I. Joe: Retaliation, somehow the onetime wrestler has skyrocketed even further, recently pulling down the honor of the highest paid actor in Hollywood. If G.I. Joe has the inside track to leverage Johnson’s billing for a third film, they would be painfully stupid not to do so.
At this point that means a bit of a waiting game. When you’re one of the most popular action heroes of the current moment, a wait list generally forms, and Johnson right now has a hell of a long one.
Now the real question is, how does this play into the whole Hasbro Cinematic Universe discussion? We’ve heard rumor upon rumor that Hasbro is trying to develop something for 2018, would that something include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson? That would feel like a logical step to take, but at this point it remains to be seen whether that would be considered “G.I. Joe 3” or something else entirely.
For many, many years a G.I. Joe film franchise was considered to be in development hell, and there was much rejoicing when it finally got the green light for 2009. Two moderately successful films later, it almost feels like we’re back in that in-between area. Hopefully news comes out in the next 12 – 18 months that changes this perception.
Stay tuned!
I’d say that we’re in far, FAR worst shape than we were back in that “in-between area” as you put it. At least back then, a decade ago, GI Joe still had a real retail presence, and Hasbro working to introduce children to the brand with cartoons and direct-to-DVD movies.
The live-action movie was supposed to simply increase brand awareness internationally, not become the main media outlet sell kids on GI Joe, but the surprise success of the Transformers movie seemingly convinced them to put all their eggs in one basket.
But, “moderately successful” at the box office or not, neither film really brought kids to the brand, and only served to sour retailers to the it. Not that movie toy lines usually have much of a shelf-life as it is. Most only last about 6 months or so.
Heck, while the Transformers movies have continued to be big hits, their toy lines have become smaller and smaller affairs. During the Age of Extinction line, they didn’t even bother to take the collectors’ line off the shelf, and just sold them side by side.
Since Retaliation, GI Joe has been spinning it’s wheels, waiting for the next movie to “fix” the line. But even if it’s a hit, it will be a temporary fix at best.
Why not reboot the entire franchise? The sequel, Retaliation, killed off Scarlet, Breaker, Heavy Duty, Duke and Ripcord and the first film killed off Cover Girl. Now Roadblock is the field commander of the remaining Joe’s which doesn’t make much sense.
Reboot minus Dwayne. I love the guy, but I love my GI Joe more. Bring Terry Crews on as Roadblock, bring in Stalker, keep Ray Park as Snake Eyes, and let’s see a crop of new characters brought to life!