G.I Joe....the real movie picture

Paramount has renewed their option on this other highly successful toy line. They want MArk Walberg involved somehow. Y0-Joe!

 

I'm not a huge fan of G.I. Joe but if Walberg's involved I might give it a chance, I think he's an excellent actor.

 

I loved - LOVED G.I. Joe as a kid. Just as much as Transformers. I'd be interested in a movie. But the problem is I think we've gone way overboard in rekindling stuff that worked in the 80's. Is no one creative enough to come out with something as good as that stuff today? Or are we just stuck in a nostalgia rut? The 80's did kick ass though!

 

Here is the problem with G.I. Joe.

Are we talking the generic Joe which has been around 40-50 years...simply a special forces type thing? Or are we talking the 80s Joe with Cobra, cool tech, and laser rifles? My guess is they will include Cobra as the foe, but the whole thing will be much more "reality" based, with real military hardware and such.

They better have Destro.

 

Issue #86 of the Marvel Comics series had a special aniversary tribute to the original G.I.Joe.

Destro: YES!
Sgt Slaughter: Sith NO!

And no other cameoes by athletes, jocks, or race-car drivers. Don't these idiots have better things to do?

If FOX is in charge, expect the entire Iraq war to have been a COBRA plot, with Major Bludd recast as an arab, Baronness as a Russian, and Cobra Commander to be a Stazi.

And don't forget that America Rules Jingoism. Going to be tons of that.

 

I read somewhere that they had planned this to be buddy movie with, of all people, Action Man. From the script synopsis I read, it's abundantly clear the producers and writers haven't any iota of respect or knowledge of the series (either cartoon or comics).

There are so many good stories amongst Larry Hama's mammoth comic series which they could use as a basis for a film it be would be shame if it turned out rubbish. And as for overall tone, the current America's Elite series is pretty good with its small covert ops approach and generally quite scary Cobra Commander. I wouldn't be surprised if they did a Reloaded-like reboot.

I will pray to the gods that it doesn't go the route of having Arab or Islamic terrorists. Time to bring back European terrorists. Bring on Destro and The Baroness.

 

I had the great pleasure of meeting "LArry Hama"; he's a great guy, and his role with G.I.JOE is greatly underappreciated. I asked him in a roundabout way 'bout the movie. And he was quiet then said, that he wouldn't be involved. This is' an indicator of that creative stream. I cynically believe that the Hollywood machine would gulp it down and throw up some action/buddy/CGI spectacle fest. It would definitely not be Patriot Games or anything intellectually stimulating. Think "Independence DAy" but with soldiers. Old school.G.i.joe vs. 80's G.I.Joe are two completely different beasts. I would say 80's re-imagining is going 2 happen...it's prime target audience is 30-35, with kids. Who in-turn can re-indocturine their chidren.[Best exampled by the success of Hasbro's/General Motor's "TRANSFORMERS".] It is note worthy, this year is the 25th anniversary of 80's G.I.Joe and not with any mention of it's 50's/60's predessesor since most of "that" generation is dead, (I'm guessing wait another 3-5 years..for the movie 2 happen.)
I also don't know how they would play the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow angle...perhaps they could be the action buddies? Like MArtin&Riggs.

Yo-Joe!

 

G.I. Joe Director News

http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3043&Itemid=99

Stephen Sommers set to take the helm on GI JOE!
Written by Michael Dayspring
Friday, 10 August 2007
Looks like Stephen Sommers is the new man in charge at GI Joe Headquarters!

The word is that Paramount has offered Stephen ?Mummy Wrangler? Sommers the task of bringing the next old school icon back to the big screen. It looks like rather than sticking with either the Skip Woods origin story or Elliot/Lovett?s more straight out adaptation they will be focuisng on a mash-up of the two.

What?s unclear is what this means for Sommer?s remake of When Worlds Collide which is supposedly in pre-production as I type this.

Is Mark Walberg still strapping on Duke?s boots? IESB got the original scoop on his casting and it stands to reason he's still onboard but it's Hollywood so you never know.

Could GI Joe be the next Transformers? Hard to say without any giant ****ing robots on screen to wow people they are going to need some serious action and big names to get that level of hype...oh yeah and casting two INSANELY hot chicks for Scarlett and the Baroness couldn't hurt either....and by all means my place is available for casting calls.

Now the real big question that fans are going to hit on is the most obvious one: Is Sommers the right man for the job?

No matter who steps in, there is going to be some negative and positive reaction to the choice...ask Michael Bay. Sommers has proven he can make a fun action adventure popcorn flick, but he's also dropped a major ball with Van Helsing...only time and boxes of bullets will tell.

Much like an agent of Cobra; IESB will be lurking about Paramount?s dark halls gathering more GI Joe Intel.

What do you guys think? Is Sommers the right man for the job? Send us an email at iesb@iesb.net with your thoughts and reactions!

I'm not completely sure about Sommers directing this. I think he has made some good movies, The Jungle Book and The Mummy, but Van Helsing was horrible.

 

If only Arnie and Stallone would do it. Then it would be so bad ass it wouldn't be funny

 

Maybe if they were in wheelchairs.

Dream Casting Call:

Duke - Thomas Jane
Snake-Eyes - Hayden Christiansen (seriously...keep him behind the mask for 98%...it'd work)
Scarlett - Rachel McAdams
Roadblock - Michael Clark Duncan
Flint - Mark Wahlberg goes here
Lady Jaye - Hilary Swank
Shipwreck - Vince Vaughn
General Hawk - Michael Ironsides

Cobra Commander - Geoffrey Rush
Destro - Vin Diesel
Baroness - Morena Baccarin
Stormshadow - ???
Major Blood - Willem Dafoe

 

I'm surprised you didn't cast Ewan McGregor as Storm Shadow. It makes about as much sense as any of the others.... seriously, why cast Hayden Christiansen in a martial arts intensive role where his only asset, his beauty, is going to be hidden behind a mask 98% of the time?

 

Because in that 2%, he can be the pretty boy...and all the martial arts stuff will be stunt doubles anyway, so who cares.

He beats out the number 2...Matt Damon.

 

Except Snake Eyes isn't a pretty boy.. he is a hideously scarred war veteran and is disfigured to the point of being unable to talk. That's why he wears the mask.

You don't need to hire a young hot actor to play a role that someone like Ray Park could do. Besides, Hayden's too young for the role anyway.

Matt Damon is a slightly more sensible choice, but unrealistic. I know it's your dream casting, but it feels like you're just name-dropping and haven't given much thought to how the actors are appropriate for their role. Michael Ironside for instance has a rough and cynical edge, hardly appropriate for Hawk unless you were to completely rewrite the character.

 

Well we all know we'd love to see real life recreations of the comics and cartoons...it's just not feasible...and either you have star power in your movies, or you go completely star free.

Snake-eyes...though in truth a mysterious, disfigured, muted character, will likely be a headlining star, even if the actual footage of them is less then 5 minutes on screen. In that light, you can make him ANYONE...and chances are good, especially if they press the Snake-eyes/Scarlett love story, that he'll turn out to be a pretty boy, under a phony scar or 2.

With Sommers on board, watch for Brendan Fraiser to attempt a career resurrection.

 

Is Sgt. Slaughter going to be in this one?

 

truth is, I don't care who "stars" as the characters(it could be all unknowns)as long as the story's good. However, knowing "Hollywood" they will attach major stars to get audience.
It just might be like Transformers casting? I do think they ought 2 focus on the three to four major heroes: Duke, Snake-eyes, Scarlett. And Stalker as the token black guy.

Vilians: Cobra Commander, Destro, and Baroness. The cartoon series however had, Shipwreck every where. It's like "he slept with the director" or something. ANd my Snake-Eyes barely was there.

Yo0JJJJJJOE!!!

 

I just don't know if GI Joe has a market right now. It would do fairly well as far as box office gross is concerned, I'm guessing, but a new toy line - unless the characters are updated and re-invented like today's Battlestar Galactica, it's gonna flop.

 

It needs a VG for younger kids.

Make one of those awful cardgame VGs and they'll eat it up.

Action figures...at least on the scale they were at in the 80s...is a near dead genre.

 

Well, a big problem is that most of the 80s characters, if you follow their original stories, would be in the 50s & 60s now, including Stalker, Snake-Eyes, StormShadow, and Scarlet.
So, any movie would have to rewrite history quite a bit. Instead of serving in Vietnam or Korea, everyone served in Desert Storm or the current mess of "playing with our toys in the sand pt2". Less heroic types might be disciplined into having to do border patrol or some schtic.

I always felt Zartan & Family were under-appreciated, though marvel comics' stick about Zartan having Ninja training was a little daft.

If using the Ninja plot, please leave out the dumb-ass matrix circle-cam and the wire-fu. Try being realistic. Get Bob Anderson to coreograph any sword-fighting, or don't do it. There is no one else who is even close to decent sword-fighting. No one. NO ONE. The closest I've seen was a cheezy arena-of-death movie called "Ring of Steel". That might do as second-runner.

Snake-eyes can easily be done by a pretty boy actor for flash-backs, or as a "rubber" mask (usually those are latex these days) to cover up the scarring.


I don't have ideal casting suggestions, because I don't know who the modern pop icons are.

Julian Sands and Julian Glover would be excellent villans.
Geena Davis could be a good Scarlet (even if she is a little old).

 

Ray Park = Best Snake-Eyes ever

'Nuff said about that casting.

This will be interesting to see how they do this. I doubt it'll be 80's cartoon Joe, but more close to a realistic Joe force. A small, special forces group hunting down elite terrorists, COBRA, etc...

 

I would like 2 see, a G.I.JOe "flashback" movie, (since there is a current Iraq/Iran war, it'll would be likely that the terrorist angle is possible. As for Ray Park for Snake Eyes, it might work if entirely in the mask, however, I do think he might be too old/short he was in 4 a local Convention),I laughed when he mentioned he was still up for Iron Fist.

 

Ray Park = Shortest Snake Eyes Ever


What about Jason Statham?

 

I watched "The One" last night, Jason Statham as "Snakes", and Jet Li as Storm Shadow?

 

That could work, I suppose--Li would be wearing a mask most of the time, so his pathetic acting skills would not be so glaringly obvious.

 

Stephen Sommers to direct.