The fine folks from Imax have dropped me a line to let me know that they are running a very cool contest, with an even cooler prize!
Here are the details:
“We’re inviting people to use Vine (https://vine.co/), the 6-second video app, to create their own PSA video for a chance to win a G.I. Joe: Retaliation poster signed by the cast. The winner will be chosen by IMAX, and the contest ends this Sunday at midnight EDT. For inspiration, check out some of the submissions in our Gallery!
One Grand Prize winner will receive a G.I. Joe: Retaliation poster signed by the cast and a 4-pack of IMAX tickets. Two runners-up will receive a G.I. Joe hat, bag, toy and pair of IMAX tickets. Attached is an image with instructions, and you can enter via our Facebook Tab or Twitter page. “
The attached image below also outlines the requirements and the prize. Pretty awesome!
I know a lot of folks were wondering what was up with the shifting release dates, sneak previews, and other jumping around with G.I. Joe: Retaliation as we neared the Easter weekend. As for myself, I wasn’t complaining at all, as it gave me the chance to see the film a few days early!
Turns out the move might have benefited the film. Several early box office reports have started coming in, and signs are looking good for a strong opening for G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Various articles below talk about it:
Deadline reports that chances of the film hitting a $50M+ opening weekend are good while the Hollywood Reporter says that International markets should top $100M for the opening weekend. That would put G.I. Joe: Retaliation at around $150M for opening weekend numbers, which is half of what Rise of Cobra did for its entire theatrical run (both domestic and international).
Keep in mind that opening weekend generally makes up a large percentage of overall Box Office sales.
Interesting information to be sure, and numbers to keep an eye on. Thanks to Twitziller and ComicBookMovie for the info.
This press release hit my email box this morning, with the G.I. Joe Collectors Club officially announcing the parachute drop for the 2013 G.I. Joe Convention in Indianapolis! One key surprise was immediately evident. The parachute figure this year will be a KRE-ON.
For those of us who are into Kre-O sets and figures this is a pretty cool twist, although I will say part of me was looking forward to a typical 4″ G.I. Joe parachute figure as well. Regardless, it will be very interesting to see what the Collectors’ Club has up their sleeve for Kre-O at JoeCon this year.
Click the “Read the Rest of the Story” link below for the full release.
Has it really been 40 days? Is that even possible? I’m sure for Twitziller it feels like even more, but he’s right here on one last day to give us one last update to his 40 reasons why G.I. Joe: Retaliation will be great.
#1:
Is there any other choice? Any other choice aside from arguably one of the most impressive action stars of the past few decades? From Die Hard to Pulp Fiction, Bruce Willis has done it all. He’s been around the block, and seen plenty of action, which is why his placement as the original “G.I. Joe” Joe Colton is so absolutely perfect. Battle hardened, but with a desire to pass on his knowledge and skills, the original Joe pitches in to help the remaining members of G.I. Joe band together and overthrow the Cobra threat.
He’s not someone I would have ever expected to star in a G.I. Joe film, but now that he has, I can’t think of anyone else who would fit this role.
And that wraps up this amazing run of 40 straight days of Reasons why G.I. Joe: Retaliation will be great. By now many of you have already seen the film and likely have some first hand knowledge about how close Twitziller was to some of his assumptions. I want to thank Twitziller for putting in the elbow grease to do this on a daily basis as the Road to Retaliation nears its end. A very exciting time to be a G.I. Joe fan, and I’m extremely pleased that he allowed me to share in this project by hosting it here on GeneralsJoes.
Now if you haven’t seen G.I. Joe: Retaliation yet, stop reading this RIGHT NOW and go to your nearest theater! YO JOE!
Across the country diehard G.I. Joe fanboys have already been hitting advanced screenings and late shows for the new G.I. Joe: Retaliation film, but for the rest of the known world, the official release date for G.I. Joe: Retaliation is TODAY.
Reaction to the film across the G.I. Joe fandom has been widely positive, though admittedly mainstream critics have been pretty harsh. I have posted my own thoughts in the form of a spoiler-free review on the G.I. Joe: Retaliation review page, and I’ve got a spoiler-filled one coming later on. I figured I’d wait until official release to get that one out to folks, because I have a lot to say based on specific plot points and character aspects.
This also marks the completion of my “Road to Retaliation” event, where I posted daily reviews every single day for pretty much 30 straight days leading up to this film. It was a pretty exhausting project, but I’m glad I was able to stick with it, and judging by my web traffic, everyone else is pretty happy about it, too!
At the end of the day, I’m thrilled that G.I. Joe fans seem to be enjoying and appreciating the merits of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, but in my mind, the box office is the most important thing. Let’s all cross our fingers and hope that the International movie going public flocks to this film and ensures that G.I. Joe is a viable brand going forward. I think we can all agree that whether or not G.I. Joe: Retaliation was a great film, it could serve as an excellent launching point to an even better Hollywood franchise going forward. I desperately hope it has the chance.
Meanwhile, here’s a little flashback to an earlier day… Machinima’s first look at G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Pretty cool to look back on it now.
Big thanks to GeneralsJoes reader David who spotted this great video and passed it along. It takes a G.I. Joe: Retaliation TV spot and interjects some of the terrific classic Hasbro commercial elements and… well, check it out for yourself!
So last week I had posted links to some major site reviews for the G.I. Joe: Retaliation film… but as a G.I. Joe fan, shouldn’t we care more about what fellow G.I. Joe fans think? Aren’t our peers even more important than the main stream critics?
To that end, I’m stealing a page from JoeBattleLines’ book and posting some links to other community sites that have posted reviews of G.I. Joe: Retaliation. It’s a great exercise to cruise around the web and see what others thought. In many cases the reviews match mine, but in some cases they certainly do not. Check them out below:
There are several Joe fans across the web who have already experienced the wonders of G.I. Joe: Retaliation (including me), but there are still great video featurettes emerging to explore other angles of the Retaliation onslaught. Hollywood Reporter has posted a great conversation with Jon Chu and Lorenzo DiBonaventura about the 3D conversion process and the steps they had to go through in order to get the film converted and ready for a March, 2013 launch.
Check out these latest statements at Hollywood Reporter, or embedded below.
It’s been a long road, but here we are, almost at the end… We’ve plowed through 38 reasons already, and today, on the eve of the reported G.I. Joe: Retaliation release, Twitziller comes up with the 39th.
#2:
A fantastic concept and the perfect extension of G.I. Joe’s semi-futuristic background, the Battle Kata vest and weapons system has been something that fans and toy makers have latched onto ever since it was first revealed. The armored vest with carefully placed sheaths and holsters has become Roadblock’s trademark look, and Hasbro has amazingly been able to translate the components into the 4″ scale toy. It’s crazy because it seems so close to reality, yet still maintains that close line to science fiction that is G.I. Joe’s specialty.
I’m going to be doing two different reviews for G.I. Joe: Retaliation. The spoiler free version is being posted right now, with the spoiler version coming probably tomorrow. I wanted to get my thoughts out there as quickly and as knee-jerk as I could, but I understand not everyone is seeing the film right away.
Then check back later for the spoiler version, where I’ll get into who lives, who dies, specific plot points and take a much deeper dive into the event that was G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
This has been a fun ride, G.I. Joe fans. A really fun ride. I greatly hope it’s simply one of many more to come.
