RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media Stephen Sommers to direct G. I. Joe live action movie

What Does G.I. Joe Stand For?

More details surface on the live-action film.
by Stax

August 24, 2007 - Who needs A Real American Hero? Not Paramount or Hasbro it seems. The studio's live-action feature film version of G.I. Joe will no longer revolve around a top-secret U.S. special forces team but rather an international operation.

In a follow-up to their confirmation that Stephen Sommers will direct G.I. Joe, Variety offers this new description of the team: "G.I. Joe is now a Brussels-based outfit that stands for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, an international co-ed force of operatives who use hi-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil organization headed by a double-crossing Scottish arms dealer. The property is closer in tone to X-Men and James Bond than a war film."

Wow. A Real Globally Integrated Hero! Can we assume that this "double-crossing Scottish arms dealer" is Destro? And does that mean there will be no Cobra Commander in it?

So why the changes? Hasbro and Paramount execs recently spoke about the challenges of marketing a film about the U.S. military at a time when the current U.S. administration and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are at a low-point in global polls. When a studio makes a film as expensive as G.I. Joe will likely be, they want to know that as many people as possible around the world will want to see it. In other words, G.I. Joe -- "A Real American Hero" -- is a tough sell.

Although the new G.I. Joe team will be international in scope, don't expect Joe's British counterpart Action Man to be included after all. IESB.net reports, "Looks like he will be gone, this new script is set to be 100% GI Joe, it will revolve around the characters we all grew up with fighting Cobra, Destro, the Baroness and Storm Shadow. When do they expect to have this new script ready? Six to eight weeks. Pre-production is expected to start by October-November and production to start early '08."

"Our vision (for The Mummy) was clear the time the first trailer played during the Super Bowl, and by the time this one plays a Super Bowl, you'll see the coolest characters and visuals you can imagine, and beyond-state-of-the-art equipment," Sommers informed Variety. "I wouldn't have jumped into this just because of the Hasbro-Transformers tie. Remember, Pirates of the Caribbean was a big hit, but Haunted Mansion not so much."

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura added, "My experience with beloved properties is that characters, attitude and tone are even more important than plot. ... Paramount showed a great deal of confidence in Stephen's take, and our ability as producers to get this up and running for a February start. His passion for the characters and the world convinced the studio this was something they couldn't resist."

The more I read about this movie the more disappointed I am in it. I can't believe how they are wussing out of making it a real G.I. Joe movie. All this will do is please the vocal minority of foreigners (who should make their own movies if they don't like this ours) and anti-military anti-American bug eaters who will protest any movie with violence or anything that shows approval towards America.

Transformers was respectful towards the military and it made tons of money. By pussyifing this movie all they are doing is pleasing a bunch of tards that wouldn't have seen it in the first place.

Its no wonder the rest of the world hates us. We can't even stand up for ourselves in our own movies.

They probably won't even go into where the origin of the phrase "G.I. Joe" came from. In case anyone asks, it's from World War II, when the U.S. of Fucking A. was saving the French, who folded like Rob playing strip poker with Hulk Hogan, from that skunk of a Fuhrer!

Oh God. The French. I totally forgot the French. This means that my favorite beret ass-kicker will go from this:



To this:



AUGH! Keep Flint away from the French!

Actually, I disagree. I think it will be worse than Transformers, and an awful movie.

I never thought I'd say this, but it'd be better if Michael Bay were making this movie.

He was also in Doctor Who.

Brian Goldner is the chief operating officer at Hasbro, which first introduced Joe to action-minded adolescents in 1964, and is also the executive producer on the "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe" movies. " 'G.I. Joe' has just gone into filming this past week, with a great cast and a tremendous story all based on the comics and the animation," Goldner said. "I think fans, and fans to come, will really love what we're doing."

Undoubtedly, such statements are as musical to the ears of longtime fans as the TV show's theme song. But stars like Dennis Quaid, Sienna Miller and Marlon Wayans have been met with varying degrees of enthusiasm from such fans, and Quaid himself recently confirmed that many beloved characters — including Wild Bill, Shipwreck and Tomax and Xamot — won't be in the flick.

"We all really loved what G.I. Joe was about in the '80s; we loved that story arc and the concept of Joe vs. Cobra," said Goldner, explaining that the people who created those characters will return, even if some of their creations won't. Comics writer Larry Hama, Goldner confirmed, "is onboard, and he's working with us on the script.

"And you may see him in the movie," he added.

Noting that the flick, directed by "Mummy" mastermind Stephen Sommers, will largely sidestep the TV show and be more "about the comic books," Goldner revealed some of the major characters and plotlines the film will explore. "We all know of the Arashikage [ninja clan], and we all know of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, but we need to build that story," he explained. "We all know the story of Duke, and the story of the Baroness. ... We know the story of Destro, but do we really? We need to go back and tell the origin story of how you get a Scottish arms dealer, who comes forward in history — how does that happen?"

"And Cobra Commander," he added, referring to the evil terrorist leader who fan sites have reported will be portrayed by "Brick" star Joseph Gordon-Levitt. "In effect, this is all about the rise of Cobra Commander. ... For fans, they're really going to love this, because we take them on a journey. ... We have to go through the first chapter and then build from there."

Goldner was also eager to respond to the controversy over rumors that the patriotic nature of "G.I. Joe" was being toned down in order to be more appealing to a worldwide, post-9/11 audience. "Duke, in our story, really represents the pre-1983 G.I. Joe," he said, linking Channing Tatum's character to the dolls of the '60s and '70s. "If those fans that grew up on the 12-inch Army man are looking for where their anchor should be, it's in Duke; he's the leader of the team and clearly American.

"But the story, just like in the comic books, was a story that took us all over the world," he continued. "That's all we were really trying to get at. And everything else that fans have heard, about the early ideas or contemplations, that's really gone. ... We're talking about a story that's going to take us all over the world, from the desert to under the water, to the mountains to cities. ... Clearly, the American military is involved, as are other forces. But at the end of the day, the force that matters is the G.I. Joe force, and the Pit, and all the things that relate to that."

We caught up with Goldner at the New York Toy Fair, where he was giving fans a sneak preview of the G.I. Joe toys of the future. At the front of his thoughts, however, was the real-life stars who'd soon be creating the action figures' action. "We think it's amazing to have Channing Tatum as Duke, because I think he has a different kind of fanbase," said the executive producer, who in May will become Hasbro's CEO. "Clearly, Sienna Miller has a wonderful fanbase. Dennis Quaid as General Hawk, he has a tremendous fanbase. So bringing them all together, as an ensemble cast, is going to be really dynamic and something that people haven't seen before. But it'll still be very true to G.I. Joe."

The next question would seem to be a logical one: Will the Joes we know and love be replaced by toy versions of Marlon Wayans and Arnold Vosloo? "Well, what was so magical about the '80s G.I. Joe was the 3 3/4-inch product," Goldner said, revealing that the dimensions of the star-faced toys would be along the lines of the "Real American Hero" line. "[That size] gives people a chance to get all the figures but get all of the vehicles. So it's going to be in that scale. ... Very true to where we were in the 1980s, and then we'll take it forward.

"Steve Sommers is very different," Goldner said, contrasting him with "Transformers" director Michael Bay. "But he's perfect, because if you think about his movies like 'The Mummy,' it's the perfect action/adventure movie. If you think about what we're trying to do for G.I. Joe, really bringing back that '80s G.I. Joe from the Marvel comics — those first 155 issues are really our focus. If you think about that, you'll understand what we're trying to get at with all those characters and all the intricate relationships.

"I don't think you'd see this movie as wacky," he promised, alluding to some of the more eccentric characters from the cartoon show. "I think you're going to see this movie as being inspirational for younger kids and totally in the sweet spot for the guys who grew up on G.I. Joe."

In August 2009, we'll see it with our own eyes. In the meantime, "G.I. Joe" continues to shoot all over the world, with a budget so huge that it makes the U.S.S. Flagg aircraft carrier play set look like something you'd get at a 99-cent store.

Yeah, Eccleston as Destro is an excellent casting move.



Unfortunately, it's the only decision the producers have made that isn't a massive cluster fuck.