A scary article for any G.I. Joe fan has been posted on FirstShowing.net regarding the production of G.I. Joe: The Rise of COBRA. It states that the film received such low scores during test screenings that director Stephen Sommers was actually fired during post-production and Paramount has been in damage control mode ever since.
This is, of course, only rumor…but I’ll say it leaves me nervous about what we should be expecting come August 7th. Accelerator Suits? I can deal with them. A disfigured COBRA Commander? I’ll roll with that. But low test screening scores, chaotic beaurocratic BS, and frantic damage control all spells “danger” and does not look good going forward. Is any of it true? Nobody really knows at the moment. But whether or not you think you’ll like the film, if it tanks as bad as the article suggests it might, it could be disastrous for the G.I. Joe brand as a whole.
Time will tell, but I’m certainly at least somewhat more trepadacious about the movie now than I was this time yesterday. Click here to check out the article.
I suppose no matter what, at least we’re getting some kick ass toys this year, that may be all we end up with to remember this run by… I certainly hope that it’s not, I guess time will tell. Thanks to Mercer from JoeBattleLines for the intel.
I hope all of that is true. Sommers is a terrible director. Calling him a hack is being nice. This is what Hasbro gets for letting their property go to the wrong people. It was going to be a dud anyways, but now I hope it’s a colossal dud, Hasbro can then come crawling back to the fans and give us more Resolute and I’ll forget the movie ever happened.
Don’t fool yourself. If the film IS a total dud, Hasbro certainly won’t come crawling back to anyone… G.I. Joe will go away, probably for at least a few years. A failure at the box office isn’t going to give the fans everything they want, it’s just going to ensure that we NEVER see Resolute stuff in the future.
I still believe this movie will have a good opening, and for the sake of the brand it has to. It’s coming out in a month where’s there’s not a lot being offered. Regardless of how bad it may or may not be you throw in a little bit of the suits, with ninjas, and huge battles, and kids will eat it up. The prequel book wasn’t great, but it wasn’t that bad either. Wayan’s character was annoying, but the story was kind of fun, especially the Joe team part of the story.
The original post, on http://www.donmurphy.net (http://www.donmurphy.net/board/showthread.php?t=31038) has been deleted. I’m not sure what that means. Either it’s true and Paramount is clamping down, or it’s false, and they’re clamping down on a false rumor.
I’m trying to hold out for the truth on this one.
Justin, you really think Joe will go away? I mean, hasn’t the 25th Anniversary stuff shown that there is a desire for the Joe property? How are the comics doing from IDW? How does Hasbro perceive the reception of Resolute?
Anyway, I’m cautiously optimistic, though the buzz is upsetting. GI Joe the Movie might still be fun, but I’m afraid most people won’t enjoy it because it does seem to look like a cartoon come to life, and definitely not “hard military” action, which seems to be what folks are clamoring for. I’m in a holding pattern…we’ll see in August, I guess. Still stoked about the toys…
“I’m afraid most people won’t enjoy it because it does seem to look like a cartoon come to life”
You do realize that most people (meaning non-dedicated fans) DO think of GI Joe as a cartoon, right? The Sunbow cartoon is the public impression of GI Joe. It’s also the engine of GI Joe’s massive 1980s sales success- without the cartoon, Cobra would likely be as forgotten as the Dire Wraiths. The movie looks like a cartoon come to life because THAT’S WHAT IT IS.
“and definitely not “hard military” action, which seems to be what folks are clamoring for.”
It’s what hardcore FANS are clamoring for, and Hasbro isn’t targeting them with the movie. (They don’t really have to. Fans are already interested in the brand, and any of them that go to see the movie are basically bonuses) Hasbro is targeting KIDS. Because their sales models, in general, are based on toy sales that end up in the hands of kids. If for no other reason than that sales model will have a constantly renewing consumer base.
I’m a huge Joe fan. It was my favorite toy as a kid, favorite comic, favorite cartoon. Drifted off to do grown up things, and came back with the 25h anniversary line due to a combination of nostalgia and the fact I have an almost 4 year old son who I want to raise as a Joe fan. I’m hooked on the toys, the comics, and the Resolute cartoon.
However, I honestly have almost no desire to see this movie. Other than the fact that it has characters named Duke, Hawk, Scarleet and the enemy is named Cobra, this just isn’t invoking any GI Joe connection with me.
I think there are a lot of fans like me, people who haven’t been collecting the comics and toys until recently, and if even half feel like I do, this movie is in trouble. It isn’t just the die hard Joe fanatics that aren’t liking this, but at least in my case also some of the kids who grew up with Joe and are now only recently finding their way back. Honestly as much as I’m currently into everything else Joe, this movie should be at the top of the list of the movies I’m excited about this summer, and I’m not even sure I’d put it in the top 5.
I’ll probably buy some of the movie line figures (especially if I find them on sale of the prices the 25th figures are currently selling for), but that’s really the only thing about this movie that excites me at the moment.
As soon as I saw this accelerator suit nonsense I knew we had problems.
I think the success or failure of the movie is going to depend in large part on how much of this silly, cheesy non-authentic military comic-bookish, superhero-ish stuff they tried to cram into the film.
I have always said that GI JOE has to maintain some pseudo-realism. Yes, it is a fantasy, and yes there is room for some odd stuff or over-the-top technology, but not a LOT of room. I’m worried that they went wayyyy overboard and are just now figuring it out two months before the film’s release date.
Oops.