Okay, so the first G.I. Joe was bad. Had it not been for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that year it may have been the worst mainstream summer blockbuster. Yet it still did enough business around the globe to warrant a sequel.
Changes are abound as writer/director Stephen Sommers is out and in his place is Jon M. Chu, who previously directed Step Up 3D and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. As scary as that looks on paper, at least he’ll be directing from a script by Zombieland scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.
In terms of casting, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sienna Miller, Rachel Nichols, Christopher Eccleston and Marlon Wayans are out. Their replacements are Dwayne Johnson, Adrianne Palicki, Joseph Mazzello, RZA, and D.J. Cotrona. So basically, a wrestler-cum-actor, the star of a the failed Wonder Woman TV pilot, the little kid from Jurassic Park all grown up, a District B13 parkour graduate, a hip-hop star, and one of the actors of the short-lived series Detroit 1-8-7. Sounds more like the future cast of Celebrity Rehab if you ask me.
While Dwayne Johnson’s casting raised some eyebrows (pun most certainly intended) you knew that the sequel couldn’t survive on Dwayne and (gulp) Channing Tatum alone as headline talent. So how about getting an actor who began by moonlighting before discovering what a TV dinner felt like. Bruce Willis is an action heavyweight and has put in enough years to be alongside the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. So with nine movies getting released in a year’s time, including a few direct-to-video, seeing Willis gravitate to G.I. Joe 2 shouldn’t be a surprise.
His role would be similar to Dennis Quaid’s in the original – in terms of presence. He’ll play General Joe Colton, the leader of the elite military unit and the original ‘G.I. Joe’ of the title, who leads a team headed by the returning Tatum and Ray Park along with the above-mentioned new blood on board.
The film will be one of Paramount’s prime summer attractions next year as it takes over the slot which was originally reserved for Star Trek 2 (now delayed). G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation opens wide on July 29, 2012.
