Hot off the presses, this 2-disc DVD set is being released to the masses today, and GeneralsJoes has your review right now! As a self-professed G.I. Joe: Renegades fanatic, I was quite excited for one of my favorite animated series to finally see DVD release, even if it’s only the first half of the first season.
Check out the review of this great series at the link below!
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.
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.
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.
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The movie is pushed back to 2013, G.I. Joe: Renegades is long gone, and by all accounts, mass retail toy shelves are going to be barren for the next 6 – 8 months. Deth of teh line!!1!
But wait…there is a light on the horizon in the form of the San Diego ComicCon figures (and vehicle) that should hit the West Coast shortly after JoeCon this year. For this year’s action figure offerings, Hasbro is going back in time, and now forward in time to bring us some great representations of G.I. Joe ninja finance clerk Jinx! We have the red version taking us back to better days of 1987…well, except for that whole Cobra La thing. And we’ve got a white version sporting a head sculpt looking very much like Elodie Yung who represents Jinx in the film, now coming out in nine months. The whole time continuum is collapsing!
I struggled a bit with where to put these reviews, but since the packaging is very 25th Anniversary themed, that’s where they are. So check out my 25th Anniversary Review Page, or just hit the links below! A big thanks to Gyre Viper from the JDSO Podcast and Jay from Carded Heroes for spreading the love a bit and letting me get these reviews out there. Enjoy.
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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Originally found by an eagle eyed member of JoeDios.com, a website for concept art company Massive Black has been unveiled, and along with it, a bunch of great looking concept pieces for potential use in the G.I. Joe line.
Actually if you look, a lot of these ideas were borrowed for G.I. Joe throughout the Pursuit of Cobra, G.I. Joe: Renegades, and even the Ghost Hawk II has some strong elements from the VTOL in this artwork. Some of this stuff looks fantastic.
For obvious safety and cost reasons, Hasbro cannot make toys with this many hard edges and details, but for sure the inspiration was there for the HISS, the Black Dragon, and the Ghost Hawk II. The stuff that wasn’t used like the APC and the Tank wasn’t used for pretty obvious reasons, in my mind, as they are very evocative of similar vehicles from Aliens and HALO. While G.I. Joe has clearly pulled some inspiration from those properties in the past, those two examples strike me as being extremely blatant.
To me the biggest loss is the incredible concept for The Baroness, a much more combat ready soldier looking version of that character. Amazing looking figure there. Pretty neat to see some of the steps taken towards our retail offerings. Check out the gallery below, and hit up the site itself, too.
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Last week quite a stir was created when Rescuer over on the JoeCustoms message boards mentioned that a Dollar General manager reported to him that the new G.I. Joe figures we were all searching for in stores had, in fact, been recalled.
I was a bit dubious about this, and I did some searching of my own, with thanks to a few friends of the site, and in all conversations I had with Dollar General folks or people connected to the chain, there had been no recall brought to their attention.
Well, Wednesday, Rescuer kindly returned to JoeCustoms to elaborate on his post, and he typed the following:
“DG recall Update:
After a busy week at the fire station, I finally got to go to the local DG myself. I spoke with Linda, the Manager, (my wife’s friend is only an Asst Manager I found out) myself in regards to the recall that they received. They did receive a recall notice on a pallet that did contain GI Joe toys. HOWEVER, the recall was due to the pallet sustaining damage in transit, and several boxes of Joe toys were crushed, along with some Corps figures, large Power Rangers, and Batman figures. The recall was from their distribution warehouse, NOT Hasbro! The Joe toys were a few of the new sculpt o-ring figures, and the small Joe combat heroes. They were told not to put them on the shelf and return for replacements. There were NONE of the new Joe single cards in the recall! They unfortunately did not receive any more of the new figures in as of the last shipment delivery. I wanted to get this clarified for everyone that is still in search of these figures. KEEP LOOKING!! If anyone is able to, please forward this info to General’sJoes to update his site as well.
Thanks,
Rescuer”
So that’s that. There is NO RECALL for Dollar General stores. Granted, these figures are quite hard to find at the moment, but I suspect they will get more common place as time goes on. For the moment, though, no need to panic.
Thanks to Rescuer for following up and bringing this to my attention!
One annual standard of the Canadian JoeCon is the excellent comic that goes along with it, and this year we get a great surprise with it! IDW artist Robert Atkins will be drawing the cover for this year’s Canadian JoeCon comic!
The details are below:
Robert Atkins to illustrate the 2012 Canadian Joe Con Comic book cover! A limited amount of these comics will be available online and at the con itself. Don’t forget to email Robert Atkins today via our “GUESTS” link to the left and order your own art to be picked up at the con! Plan early to get into the con faster by booking your tickets at the link below! All purchased tickets via BrownPaperTickets will get you into Friday night for FREE!
Tickets will only be available online until July 10th.
August 10th and 11th at the Sheraton Toronto, and make sure you keep your eyes on CanadianJoeCon.com for the latest details and information about the Canadian JoeCon!
Kevin Watts has gotten a lot of love from GeneralsJoes, mostly due to his excellent custom work, but not only does Kevin do great customs, but he’s also been a fan of the property and collecting for a long time, and he has a lot of items in his personal collection that have never seen the light of day. He collects pre-production items, concept art, and has a veritable museum of incredible collectibles.
Thankfully, he has gotten his own website rolling, the 788th Armored Division, and has used it as a platform to showcase a fantastic piece of concept art for a vehicle that has never been released. Designed apparently as an armored transport, this vehicle looks like it was slated to be released in 1986 and has some shared concepts with the Rolling Thunder, which was released in 1988.
Out of respect for Kevin, I’m not mirroring the images here, but you should definitely check out the 788th Armored Division to see these images. They are worth your time.
UPDATE – Kevin has kindly given me permission to mirror a few images, so check them out below. More are available at his site. Thanks, Kevin!
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