Hot on the heels of the success of Transformers, Paramount is bringing yet another 1980’s toy to the big screen, but instead of otherworldly shape-shifting robots, get ready for a real American hero!
G.I Joe is currently in production and set for a summer 2009 release, but fans are already getting a sneak peak at some of the action.
Paramount has released two photos of the fan-favorite character Snake Eyes (shown below), played by Ray Park, of Darth Maul Star Wars fame. Snake Eyes holds an impressive title according to G.I. Joe director Stephen Sommers.
“He’s the world’s greatest ninja, but he’s also next-generation. He’s not afraid to use a sword one second, and a split-second later he’s pulling out his Glock,” Sommers told USA Today. “His chief nemesis is arguably the world’s other great ninja, Storm Shadow. The two grew up together, were blood brothers and now are mortal enemies.”
Access Hollywood caught up with Channing Tatum while promoting the Iraq war drama Stop-Loss. Channing, who plays G.I. Joe’s leader, Duke, admitted he was apprehensive about stepping into another war film, but says G.I. Joe is not your typical combat filled movie.
“G.I. Joe is now a war film,” Channing told Access. “I was afraid it was going to be a real war film, and actually it’s nothing like that– it’s X-Men with Mission Impossible.”
As for G.I. Joe sticking with its comic book and cartoon roots, Channing couldn’t agree more, saying, it’s a comic book “to the tenth degree.”
Channing’s co-stars, Dennis Quaid and Sienna Miller, are also pumped to dive into this summer blockbuster.
“G.I. Joe goes back to when I was a kid, and I thought it would be a lot of fun to be a part of this,” Dennis Quaid, who will play Commander Hawk, told Access. “It’s a huge popcorn action movie, and a little bit of a cartoon in a sense. The way it’s going to be done… it’s going to be really exciting.”
Access wasn’t only talking to the good guys. Sienna Miller, who will portray the diabolical lady of Cobra, The Baroness, revealed the lengths she’s going to in order to nail her iconic character.
“[The film] requires a lot of physical training,” Sienna told Access. “I have a black wig, guns, and leather… it’s all very fantastic!”
Sienna admitted to Access that getting the part of the Baroness down took hard work, even a little homework.
“I’ve got a rubber gun at home that looks so real. I’m learning how to spin it. I’ve had it in my car while driving, and I’m terrified I might be pulled over because it looks like a proper gun,” Sienna added.
Rounding out the all-American heroes cast is Rachel Nichols from Alias, playing Scarlett (cross-bow included), Marlon Wayans as paratrooper Ripcord, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje from Lost, as Heavy Duty, and Said Taghmaoui of Vantage Point fame as Breaker.
On the Cobra side of the fight, Byung-Hun Lee will play Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes ninja nemesis, Arnold Vosloo from “The Mummy” will play the chameleon-like Zartan, Christopher Eccleston will play the evil chromed-domed Destro, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt from “Stop-Loss” has been cast as the leader of the evil Corba army, Cobra Commander.
The film is reportedly an origins story. It could explain why Destro has a chromed head and why Snake Eyes doesn’t speak, among other outlandish details of G.I. Joe that the cartoon never explained.
“For people who know nothing about it, it’ll make sense,” Sommers told USA Today. “And to people who love this stuff, it’ll show where they all came from.”
As for the famous G.I. Joe catch phrase –“Now I know, and knowing is half the battle” – which was used in the PSA’s that followed the 1980’s cartoons, popping up in the 2009 film, a rep from Paramount told Access, “You’ll have to wait and see!”
Credit: Yahoo News
