Here’s the trailer:
What do you think? Did I see Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow in there? What about Duke, Scarlett, Breaker, Hawk, and Blowtorch? Are they making an appearance? Will Cobra Commander have the mirror face or that weird towel over his head? Destro is in this right?
The answers are here:
The official name is G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. It’s directed by Stephen Sommers (who directed the CGI whirlwind The Mummy.) It will be released on August 7, 2009. It’s set ten years in the future. The story was going to be set at Brussels-based GIJOE, an acronym for the Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, and revolve around an international co-ed force of operatives who use high-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil org headed by a Scottish arms dealer. This has since changed due to overwhelming negative response from fans and even servicemen.
GiJoe is once again “A real american hero”, not an international UN type organization according to Hasbro.
Hasbro said this on their website:
Message to G.I Joe Fans
Hasbro’s G.I. Joe Team wanted to take this opportunity to clarify some of the facts regarding the G.I. Joe live-action movie that we are developing with Paramount Pictures.
First and foremost, we are not changing what the G.I. Joe brand is about. The name “G.I. Joe” will always be synonymous with bravery and heroism.
The G.I. Joe brand has enjoyed a successful 43-year history, spanning two key generations. The first was the line of 12-inch “realistic military” figures that were popular with kids in the 1960s and 1970s.
The second generation, was created in 1982, and is based on a cast of fictional heroes and villains that make up the “G.I. Joe vs. Cobra” fantasy. The premise of this fantasy is the story of the G.I. Joe team, led by Duke, and their “fight for freedom wherever there is trouble” against the evil Cobra Commander and his Cobra force. This storyline was an instant hit with kids in the early 1980s, spawning a highly popular 3-3/4-inch action figure line, comic book collection and animated series.
This movie will be a modern telling of the “G.I. Joe vs. Cobra” storyline and its compelling characters that Hasbro created 25 years ago. The G.I. Joe team will not be based in Brussels. Instead, they will be based out of the “Pit” as they were throughout the 1980s comic book series. And, in keeping with the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra fantasy, the movie will feature characters and locations from around the world. Duke, the lead character and head of the G.I. Joe team, will embody the values of bravery and heroism that the first generation of G.I. Joe figures established.
G.I. Joe is a very important property to Hasbro and we thank all of our fans for their enthusiasm. Without all of you, the brand would not be where it is today.
Thank you.
Here’s the details on the cast:
* Channing Tatum as Conrad Hauser / Duke: The highly decorated field commander of the G.I. Joes. Lorenzo di Bonaventura wanted to cast Mark Wahlberg in the role, while the studio met with Sam Worthington. Tatum had played a soldier in Stop-Loss, an anti-war film, and originally wanted no part in G.I. Joe, which he felt glorified war. Once he read the script though, he realized the franchise was a fantasy akin to X-Men, Mission: Impossible and Star Wars rather than a war film.
* Dennis Quaid as General Clayton M. Abernathy / Hawk: The team leader. Quaid described Hawk as “a cross between Chuck Yeager and Sgt. Rock and maybe a naïve Hugh Hefner”.Quaid’s son convinced him to take on the part, and the filmmakers enjoyed working with him so Stuart Beattie wrote “ten to fifteen more scenes” for the character. He filmed all his scenes within the first two months of production. Quaid is signed on for two sequels.
* Rachel Nichols as Shana M. O’Hara / Scarlett: She graduated college aged twelve and became the team’s intelligence expert. She is fluent in a dozen languages and is skilled in martial arts, but having left school so early, she does not understand men’s attraction to her. Nichols was the first choice for the role. Nichols had dyed her blonde hair red – Scarlett’s hair color – for her role in Star Trek, which she filmed before G.I. Joe.
* Ray Park as Snake-Eyes: A mute ninja. Like his character, Park is a martial arts expert and specifically practiced wushu for the role, as well as studying the character’s comic book poses.
* Marlon Wayans as Wallace Weems / Ripcord: A pilot and Duke’s best friend. He has a crush on Scarlett, which she is oblivious to, and he does not realize she is in a relationship with Snake-Eyes. A fan of the franchise, Wayans was cast on the strength of his performance in Requiem for a Dream. Bonaventura said that film showed Wayans could be serious as well as funny.
* Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Lamont A. Morris / Heavy Duty: An ordnance expert. Common was offered the role of Heavy Duty’s cousin Roadblo although Bonaventura previously indicated Heavy Duty was being used in that character’s stead. Stuart Beattie ultimately chose to have Heavy Duty instead of Roadblock
* Saïd Taghmaoui as Alvin R. Kibbey / Breaker: He is the team’s communications specialist and computer hacker.
* Karolína Kurková as Courtney A. Kreiger / Cover Girl: Hawk’s aide-de-camp.
Cobra
* Christopher Eccleston as James McCullen Destro XXIV: A weapons designer and founder of the Military Armament Research Syndicate (MARS). His loyalty lies with the highest bidder,and he is the main villain for the early part of the film. His family heirloom is a metal mask. Irish actor David Murray was cast as Destro, but was forced to drop it when he had problems with his visa Murray was later cast as James McCullen I in a flashback scene.
* Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander / The Doctor: A scientist who develops weapons for Destro. He is also working on mind control. Levitt wore a mask – which was redesigned from the comics because the crew found it too reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan – and prosthetic makeup underneath. Upon seeing concept art of the role he was being offered, Levitt signed on because; “I was like, ‘I get to be that? You’re going to make that [makeup] in real life and stick it on me? Cool. Let me do it.’ That’s a once-in-lifetime opportunity.” Levitt is a friend of Tatum and they co-starred in Stop-Loss and Havoc. His casting provided extra incentive for Tatum to join the film. Levitt described his vocal performance as being half reminiscent of Chris Latta’s voice for the 1980s cartoon, but also half his own ideas, because he felt rendering it fully would sound ridiculous.
* Sienna Miller as Baroness Anastasia DeCobray / The Baroness: A spy. Years before the film, the Baroness was going to marry Duke, but he left her at the altar. Miller prepared with four months of weight training, boxing sessions and learned to fire live ammunition, gaining five pounds of muscle.
* Lee Byung-hun as Storm Shadow: Snake-Eyes’s nemesis. Both were close members of the Arashikage ninja clan. Lee said he did not know G.I. Joe because it is an unknown series in Korea. Sommers and Bonaventura told him not to watch any of the cartoons to prepare for the role. Lee was attracted to Storm Shadow’s “dual personality”, which he stated has “huge pride and honor”.
* Arnold Vosloo as Zartan: An expert in makeup and disguises serving Destro.
No word on Tomax and Xamot. Maybe next episode.
PS: Marlon Wayans?
