By and large, folks have been considering a 2012 release date pretty ambitious for the G.I. Joe film, considering there isn’t even a director lined up yet and we don’t even have confirmation that all of the cast members will be returning.
Word comes in today from the pre Toy Fair investor conference that G.I. Joe 2 is now officially slated for a 2013 release, not 2012. The information comes from Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner, and was relayed through TFW2005.
Now we just need some confirmation that Jon Chu is sticking to dance movies, and we can consider today a “win”.
Longtime fan of the G.I. Joe property, El Mayimbe from Latino Review reports that Paramount may have possibly narrowed down the list of potential G.I. Joe sequel directors to three names. I will admit, all three names mean nothing to me, but some of their work does.
On this list are Jaume Collet-Serra, F Gary Gray, and Jon Chu. While none of them are really household names, Collet-Serra has helmed some financial successes including House of Wax, Orphan, and the upcoming Unkown with Liam Neeson is already showing some promise. F Gary Gray seems to be the best name on the list, having a great action film resume, including The Italian Job, The Negotiator, and Law Abiding Citizen.
And then there’s Chu. Jon Chu’s most notable films to date are Step Up 3D and Justin Bieber, Never Say Never.
No, I’m not kidding.
Hey, I know I’m a big fanboy and everything, but if Chu somehow ends up directing the G.I. Joe Sequel, I think that just might push me off the bus. We’ll see. These are all rumors for now, take it for what its worth. El Mayimbe does have his finger on the pulse.
This series has been a whole hell of a lot of fun.
While I will admit the stop motion was a bit rough at some earlier parts of VisorHUNgary’s work, he has absolutely hit his stride, and this latest stuff is really great. He has posted the latest installment of his Rise of Cobra era stop motion animation on YouTube. I am amazed at how well he does this. Some great special effects, seamless animation. Pure excellence.
His latest installment in “G.I. Joe: Cobra 3” is Chapter 3, but I’m embedding parts 1 – 3 just so you don’t miss anything. Impressive. Keep in mind, this is the third part of his Cobra adventure, so you should check out his channel to watch everything you might have missed.
Please check out his full YouTube Channel as well, he’s got a bunch more great stuff there.
We hadn’t heard a whole lot of buzz about the supposedly upcoming sequel to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, but today, the Hollywood Reporter sheds at least a little bit of light.
They report that indeed, the sequel is moving forward as planned with a script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and that Lee Byung-hun is set to reprise his role as Storm Shadow. None of this is especially interesting…these facts were reported quite a while ago. The interesting part is the following line, directly from Hollywood Reporter:
“Lee will head to the U.S. to begin shooting in June, with thefilm slated to open in the summer of 2012.”
I don’t believe we’d heard a concrete shooting date of June mentioned before. I know they’d talked about a summer 2012 release, but I honestly thought that was a little ambitious. I still think it’s a little ambitious. Still no director, still no word about Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid, Christopher Ecclestein, Rachel Nichols, Sienna Miller, Ray Park, or most importantly (in my mind), Joseph Gordon-Leavitt. I think most of these folks signed contracts for a multi-film deal, but given Leavitt’s recent critical and financial success with Inception, it would be interesting to see how he reacts to being thrust back into potential B-Movie cheese.
Looks like the next 18 months are going to be an interesting roller coaster ride as usual. Being a Joe fan is never boring.
Wow. The hits just keep on coming for Ross stores… on the heels of the surprising find of the believed to be canceled Wave 3 Target Exclusives, Phil, a contributor for YoJoe.com has stumbled upon something even more shocking.
The Night Raven repaint revealed at SDCC in 2009, labeled as the “Sand Serpent”! Like the Target Exclusives, Hasbro reported this item as being canceled, but again like the Target Exclusives, Ross begs to differ.
Purchased for an astounding $15.99, here’s yet another thing to send Joefans scrambling…either for their nearest Ross store, or for their nearest buddy who might live NEAR a Ross Store. Kudos to Phil for finding this!
The news comes from SuperHeroHype, who in turn, got it from LA Times… apparently Paramount has elected to go in a different direction with the upcoming sequel to G.I. Joe’s first live action adventure, The Rise of Cobra.
To be honest, I kind of wondered if this was coming. I’d recently read that Sommers had signed on to produce and direct a series of films based on Dean Koontz’s “Odd Thomas” book series, and I kind of wondered how that might impact G.I. Joe plans.
It will be interesting to see what this really means. To some folks, it could be cause for celebration, as many had an adverse reaction to the first film (whether or not that was a direct result of Stephen Sommers’ involvement is a source of debate), however, I also think it could be a cause for some concern. Not concern because Sommers isn’t helming the project, but concern because that sort of leaves things back at square one.
Sure, the script supposedly has gotten some serious work, but without a director even attached, I don’t see how the movie can begin filming this year as was previously hypothosized. Not only that, but Channing Tatum continues to take on roles with other films, and certainly doesn’t seem in a rush to reprise his role as Duke.
Could we be looking at a full blown reboot? Early rumors suggested that the written script was definitely a continuation, not a reboot. If so, who is directing it? Can we expect to see the film in 2012 as was initially rumored? Tough to tell at this point.
All we can say for sure right now is, the waters are murky, and let’s all hope that G.I. Joe’s live action biography isn’t restricted solely to the mixed reactions from The Rise of Cobra. I was never ashamed about proclaiming my enjoyment of the film, but I think everyone would agree, G.I. Joe could be (and deserves) better.
