by generalsjoes | Jun 4, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe: The Movie
With the recent chaos surrounding the delay of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, film director Jon Chu’s Twitter account has been noticeably quiet, leading some to think that there might be something amiss. In light of the recent rumors surrounding a contentious atmosphere between the director and Paramount, I reached out to Mr. Chu to ask him about the situation, and he responded to some of my questions.
The director of G.I. Joe: Retaliation denies claims that there is any contention whatsoever between himself and Paramount, and he is in fact currently at work on the film. The long length of the delay was actually at his request to make sure if they were going to go through the 3D conversion that they do it the right way and not be rushed.
He did admit that he was disappointed about the push back of the film, but he is working hard to do the film right. In fact, the director, who already has significant 3D experience with Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, said to me that he hopes to try some “fun new things” with the technology as we move towards the new release date in 2013.
While he obviously could not confirm any specific details about reshoots, he did say that any new scenes they are shooting will endeavor to be as good as they can be in 3D to make the wait worth while.
Mr. Chu did want to make sure that I relayed his deep appreciation for all of the great feedback he’s received so far and for how well he is being accepted and treated by the fans of the franchise. He and Paramount are “working very well together” and from the sounds of it, the film is on the right track as we move towards March, 2013. He was quite happy and satisfied that Paramount agreed to give them the extra time and resources required to do the film in 3D the right way.
I cannot thank Mr. Chu enough for taking the time to answer some of my questions and to put my mind at ease with some of these recent revelations.
It certainly has led me to treat some of these internet rumors with a large grain of salt as we get closer to the movie.
by generalsjoes | Jun 4, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe: The Movie
Now, of course, this has to stay in strict “rumor mill” mode, but honestly Drew McWeeny from HitFix is a very well connected guy in the movie industry, so I would think this is something we should pay some attention to, and it does connect some dots for us.
According to the aforementioned HitFix, Paramount’s decision to move the film release date has created some contention between the studio and director Jon M. Chu, and in fact, Paramount may be attempting to press forward with reshoots without Chu’s involvement. This could be huge, and would certainly explain the director’s Twitter silence.
Chu has long established his fandom of the G.I. Joe franchise, and has been exceptionally well connected to the fans through social media, so if Paramount tries to lock him out of the reshoot process, do we all risk losing some connection to the production, and losing the assistance of someone who will fight for what we want to see in a G.I. Joe film? However, also according to HitFix, producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura (who has some klout with the studio) is standing firm by Chu’s side and supporting him against the studio. Check out the full paragraph here:
“We’ve been hearing reports of rough test screenings for the film, but things are starting to get genuinely contentious between director Jon Chu and the studio, and right now, there is a chance he won’t be directly involved at all with the reshoots. There’s also a chance Chu might try to legally force his way back onto the film, which could create even more strain in the relationship he has with Paramount. Word is that producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura is firmly on Chu’s side, which could help, but I shouldn’t be shocked if we get word soon that Stuart Baird or someone similar is being brought on to “consult.””
Obviously this turns the entire production process on its ear, and unfortunately injects even more doubt and chaos into what is already a bizarre, uncomfortable next nine months for everyone involved.
Interestingly, among this is other news according to IGN.com, who reports that another Paramount production, World War Z is also going through a long series of reshoots and have also endured a date change, signifying that this isn’t a problem necessarily focused purely on G.I. Joe. It sounds like Paramount is scrambling to refocus on their films and find a better, more effective formula for their story telling. In light of the massive domestic failures of John Carter and Battleship, and in light of the tremendous success of Avengers, it looks like Paramount is paying more attention to the narrative. Hopefully the results in March show that to be the right move, but if the voyage over the next nine months is fraught with the same chaos, uncertainty, and train wreck under tones that we’ve seen over the past two weeks, G.I. Joe’s public face is just going to suffer further.
At the end of the day, it feels like the G.I. Joe brand in general is a brand that has been skirting the line of viability and profitability over the past several years, and this constant barrage of press for all the wrong reasons isn’t going to do it any favors long term. Buckle up, Joe fans.
Big thanks to Ed Dam from JoeCanuck.com for the heads up to the article, and check out the full article at HitFix.
by generalsjoes | Jun 4, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe: The Movie
While Paramount’s official line remains that the G.I. Joe: Retaliation delay is due to a desire to convert the film to 3D, rumors still swirl that they’re also doing some reshoots and also trying to provide more Channing Tatum for the movie going audience.
While at the MTV Movie Awards last night, Tatum was approached by MTV and asked about the status of G.I. Joe: Retaliation and whether or not he would be participating in any reshoots. His answer was pretty non-committal, saying he didn’t really know what was going on, and that he had done everything they had asked him to do.
Doesn’t sound much like someone who is still involved with the film, in my mind…or has the desire to promote it. But we are still nine months out.
Also, don’t forget that there were rumors that people seeing the early screenings were being shown two endings, one with Tatum deceased, and one with him alive. It’s possible they have already filmed all of the footage of him that they need and it’s all up to the editors now. Check out the interview on MTV.com or also embedded below.
by generalsjoes | Jun 2, 2012 | 30th Anniversary, Dollar Store, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: The Movie, Podcasts, What's on Joe Mind
Has a fandom ever been thrown into such turmoil in such a short period of time before? Two weeks ago, new G.I. Joe toys were on the verge if being released, a movie was coming out in about a month, JoeCon was coming and things were GREAT.
Now, two weeks later, the film is pushed back to 2013, most of the toys have been delayed, and JoeCon’s quick sell out has created a riff in the fandom. What’s on Joe Mind to the rescue! We spend some time with voicemail messages in this episode, letting Joe fans vent their frustrations, as we take some time to vent our own.
Check out episode 57 on our Podbean Page, or via one of the embedded players below. As always, Show Notes are after the jump.
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by generalsjoes | May 30, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe: The Movie
We’ve heard it from a number of different sources, and the story is starting to become more and more clear, and now industry insider Nikke Finke has spoken up on Deadline.com about the delay for G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
The story is starting to sound familiar.
Yes, according to Ms. Finke, the reasons behind the G.I. Joe: Retaliation delay were much more than simply a conversion to 3D or “bad screenings”. Sure, those played a part, but there were also other elements at work, too. According to Paramount insiders, the screening response wasn’t so much that the film was bad, it was more centered around the fact that Roadblock and Duke didn’t really establish a great friendship and that Duke died way too early in the film. There were also responses to the screening that asked why there was a lack of 3D in the first place.
Combining this with earlier talk that both John Carter of Mars and Battleship tanked domestically, Paramount became skittish of the surrounding competition, and elected to vacate to safer territory. The interesting note to all of this is not just that both John Carter and Battleship did much better internationally (which they both did), but that the big draw internationally was the 3D in both films.
This is the full context of what the Paramount source had to say:
“This was a case of letting a schedule to fill a summer slot dictate the film not being in 3D even though we knew that would be the most commercial version of the film. Then in the spring there were 2 big events. First John Carter lost $200M despite the best efforts of the Pixar brain trust. But the 3D film managed to gross over $200M overseas, nearly tripling its U.S. take.
“Also Channing Tatum had a breakout spring, starring in The Vow and 21 Jump Street. In our first screening of the film the reaction from audiences was good but with 2 big concerns: 1) They didn’t like the fact that Channing and The Rock really didn’t have any time to develop a friendship before Channing died, and 2) Why wasn’t it going to be in 3D? We went back and shot another week with Channing to develop more of his story with The Rock, which made the film play much better. But we didn’t have the time to be in 3D.
“Then a week ago Battleship basically had the same performance as John Carter – $60M-$70M U.S. and just over $200M international. That was just a wake-up call that said to us we need to offer the best version of the film irrespective of summer market share to ensure the best possible performance. And not being in 3D will cost us a ton of business internationally.”
I think it’s fair to say, now that we’ve heard from a number of industry sources that this is probably the prevailing wisdom behind the news. It’s not nearly the “doom and gloom” that many people fear in regards to the film’s quality, it was mostly a combination of different things that led us to this. Where we go from here is the important next step.
I will say, I haven’t seen this many industry folks talk about the G.I. Joe film franchise in the past, perhaps all of this visible conversation is good for the film in the long run? Maybe it will spark interest from some people and put it more on the “Hollywood Radar”. Along with Deadline.com, the Hollywood Reporter is also chiming in with their own analysis, that puts a bit of a more sinister focus on it, but is still talking about the film. Time will tell.
Check out Deadline.com for the full story.
by generalsjoes | May 29, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe: The Movie
We’ve obviously been seeing a lot of talk online about the date move for G.I. Joe: Retaliation, but most of it from the mainstream sites has just been a mention, and then moving on. Patrick Goldstein from the LA Times’ “Big Picture” actually put out some very nice and detailed analysis of the move.
So far his opinions are coming pretty close to mirroring mine. In fact, he thinks much the same way I do in that this isn’t just Battleship’s fault, you need to look further back to John Carter of Mars as well, in setting a precedent for failure that major studios are suddenly growing very skittish of.
Check out the post right here. It’s a great read.
