El Guapo from reputable film website Latino Review has spoken directly with Lorenzo Di Bonaventura about the testing for the film and the whole firing of Stephen Sommers rumor.  This is straight from the horse’s mouth:

**UPDATE**

Latinoreview wanted to get to the bottom of this so we spoke directly with Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura about this whole firing mess and here’s what he had to say:

Lorenzo: It’s very unfair to Steve, it’s completely untrue he was never asked to leave or been fired or any of that. That’s ridiculous. The movie tested very well.

I hear it tested as good as the first Transformers.

Lorenzo: Well listen, we tested very well and I don’t compare the movies because they are different movies, but you know I think its really destructive for a director…It hurts a guy’s career when people go around talking about that he was fired or he didn’t do a good job and truth is he did a really good job. People are going to enjoy the movie and the test audiences enjoyed the movie.

He did a very good job the movie tested well and it couldn’t be more false that the studio in anyway did anything negatively to Steve.

So what really happened in the editing room?

Lorenzo: Nothing that doesn’t happen on every other movie, which is that you constantly work and work and work and you make it better and better. We had a delay on visual effects so we waited a long time to finish the movie but that’s the only thing. I don’t really know why that would be interpreting it negatively but I guess it was.

In regards to the testing the film has had so far:

Lorenzo: Everybody was happy, the studio was happy, the filmmakers were happy, the audience was happy with the movie. We had three test screenings, three different times and tested it and each time it just got better and better. We started off in a good place and we ended up in even in a better place, which is what you hope on a film from testing it.

So there you go. Straight from Lorenzo as he debunks the firing story. Like I said, I’ve heard from my sources that the film was tracking well. We’ve stuck up for this film from the get go. Why? Because we’re fans of G.I. Joe. And I’ve mentioned on Twitter and here numerous times that I think the movie looks kick ass.

All know is fans want a good G.I. Joe movie despite the Hollywood politics. We’ll find out when it hits theaters on August 7th.

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Everyone here knows I’m an uber-fanboy, and that I’m a devout supporter of G.I. Joe and Hasbro, but I’m straying on the “false rumor” side of things.  Latino Review has SCATHED early examples of the G.I. Joe film in the past, they have no reason to support it, and they’re supporting it, I see no reason to go against that grain.  Regardless of the Hollywood political garbage or potential implications, there’s nothing we can do at this point, I’m just going to enjoy the ride.

At this point the haters are going to hate, the supporters are going to support, and little will change anyone’s mind this close to the film’s release.  I’m still staying cautiously optimistic with hopes of 2 hours of entertainment on August 7th.  Even if I’m not entertained, I’ve got at least a few years worth of awesome toys coming in 2009 that’ll take care of that for me.