Wednesday, August 5

• Stephen Sommers Talks G.I. Joe Sequel

  

  Though Paramount won't be having press screenings for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, usually a bad sign for a movie, the lucky few who have seen it reviewed it favorably. Director Stephen Sommers is already "very excited" about a sequel, and told UGO that while he has a live-action Tarzan project lined up, what he really wants is to work on another G.I. Joe:

  I'm ready to work with this cast again and do the sequel. My next project will be Tarzan unless the studio wants a G.I. Joe sequel. Then that comes first. We've got some ideas on where we could take this thing that are ready to go.

  Sommers reiterated his sequel hopes to SuperheroHype, saying that if G.I. Joe 2 is desired by the studio he'll "take August off, but then sure, I'm right back in there."

  And what does Sommers have in mind for the sequel?

  Well, the mythology of it, [G.I. Joe comic book author] Larry Hama, who gave me the comic books, gave me a lot of the mythology of it that there's so much more to tell just about these characters and where their relationships go. I think that even though this movie has a beginning, a middle and an end, you still want to know what's going to happen to them. You want to know more about these characters which is the best thing about it. As great as the action is and all the special effects, I think people really fall in love with these characters. The key is that I have a lot of ideas and there's a G.I. Joe mythology. If we get to do a sequel, there's a lot more to tell.

  
  
  Next Showing: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opens August 7, 2009

  Posted 08/05/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Larry Hama | Stephen Sommers | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Tuesday, April 7

• Snake Eyes Won't Talk in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

  Fans of the G.I. Joe already have a bones to pick with the current big screen adaptation G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: Cobra Commander's new scuba-like mask or Destro's "nanotechnology" mask that looks like the costume director unloaded a can of silver spray paint on actor Christopher Eccleston's face, but there's one thing that fans can take solace in and that's the lack of dialogue coming from the martial arts expert Snake Eyes.

  Channing Tatum (Duke) told MTV that Larry Hama, the movie's creative consultant and the writer of the G.I. Joe comic in the 1980's, laid down the law concerning Snake Eyes:

  I think that the first and the one thing that [Hama] said was, ‘Okay, I’ll do this. But Snake Eyes can’t talk. No matter what, Snake Eyes can’t talk.’ At one point they had Snake Eyes saying one line or something like that at the end of the movie and he’s just like, ‘Never. Never in a million years. I’m never going to let that happen.’ So he doesn’t.

  While that may pacify some fans, Tatum offered other reasons to worry about the adaptation. According to Tatum, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is "almost 75% digital" which could be good news or bad news depending on how you feel about director Stephen Sommers's track record of effect's-heavy efforts like The Mummy, Van Helsing, and, before anyone thinks this is bad news, 1989's submerged horror flick Deep Rising. Feel good? No?

  Tatum also told SciFiWire that he and other actors had a hard time keeping a straight face while working on the movie:

  I don't know anyone that wasn't laughing on the set all the time on G.I. Joe. I'm sitting there looking at a green screen like, "RIPCOOOORD! NOOOO!" Stuff like that, and you're just like, "What am I doing?"

  Before fans burn their comics or tear their action figures, Tatum did say that the script is very self-referential, with Marlon Wayans at one point mentioning a "kung fu grip." Now you can feel better.

  
  
  Next Showing: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opens August 7, 2009

  Posted 04/07/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Channing Tatum | Marlon Wayans | Larry Hama | Christopher Eccleston | Stephen Sommers | Van Helsing | Deep Rising | The Mummy | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra