G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
| G.I. Joe | |
|---|---|
| File:GIJOEmovielogo.jpg Logo from 2008 American International Toy Fair | |
| Directed by | Stephen Sommers |
| Written by | Screenplay: Stuart Beattie Comic Book: Larry Hama |
| Produced by | Stephen Sommers Lorenzo di Bonaventura Bob Ducsay Brian Goldner |
| Starring | Channing Tatum Christopher Eccleston Sienna Miller Dennis Quaid Ray Park Rachel Nichols Marlon Wayans Joseph Gordon-Levitt |
| Edited by | Bob Duscay |
| Music by | Alan Silvestri |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates | August 7, 2009 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $170 million[1] |
G.I. Joe is an upcoming American action film that is a live action adaptation of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toy franchise. The film is directed by Stephen Sommers and written by Stuart Beattie. G.I. Joe features an ensemble cast based on the various characters of the franchise. Production of the film began in February 2008, primarily taking place in Downey, California and Prague's Barrandov Studios, and the film is scheduled to be released on August 7 2009.[2]
Premise
Ten years in the future,[3] the G.I. Joe team battles the evil Cobra Organization, run by a Scottish arms dealer.[4] The story takes place across the Arctic, Paris, Moscow, Washington, D.C., Australia and the Sahara.[5][6] The team will be based in the Pit,[7] while it was indicated Cobra Island will appear.[8] In terms of characterization, the focus will be on Scarlett and the Baroness's romantic lives.[6]
The film also acts as an origin story for many of the characters. Stephen Sommers said, "For people who know nothing about it, it'll make sense. And to people who love this stuff, it'll show where they all came from."[9]
Cast
- G.I. Joe
- Channing Tatum as First Sergeant Conrad S. Hauser / Duke: The lead soldier.[10] Lorenzo di Bonaventura wanted to cast Mark Wahlberg in the role.[11] 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.[12]
- 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".[13] He filmed all his scenes within the first two months of production.[14] Quaid is signed on for two sequels.[15]
- Rachel Nichols as Shana M. O'Hara / Scarlett: A skilled martial artist and the team's counter-intelligence specialist.[16]
- Ray Park as Snake-Eyes: A mute ninja.[16] A martial arts expert, Park practiced wushu for Snake-Eyes and also studied his comic book appearances.[17]
- Marlon Wayans as Wallace A. Weems / Ripcord: The leader of a military unit.[3] A fan of the franchise, Wayans was cast on the strength of his performance in Requiem for a Dream.[18]
- Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Lamont A. Morris / Heavy Duty: An ordnance expert.[16] Common was offered the role of Heavy Duty's cousin Roadblock,[19] although Bonaventura previously indicated Heavy Duty was being used in that character's stead.[11]
- Saïd Taghmaoui as Alvin R. Kibbey / Breaker: The team's communications specialist.[16]
- Cobra
- Christopher Eccleston as James McCullen Destro XXIV: The main villain. Irish actor David Murray was cast in the role, but was forced to drop it when he had problems with his visa.[20]
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander: Destro's shadowy, masked boss.[5] Levitt signed on because he was given pictures of Cobra Commander and decided it would be fun to play a larger-than-life villain.[21] Levitt is a friend of Tatum and they co-starred in Stop-Loss. His casting provided extra incentive for Tatum to join the film.[12] USA Today reported Levitt is playing "multiple roles".[9] Like Quaid, Levitt filmed all his scenes in California.[22]
- Sienna Miller as Baroness Anastasia DeCobray / The Baroness: Destro's partner.[23] Miller prepared with four months of weight training, boxing sessions and learned to fire live ammunition, gaining five pounds of muscle.[24]
- Lee Byung-hun as Storm Shadow: Snake-Eyes's nemesis. Both are members of the Arashikage ninja clan.[25]
- Arnold Vosloo as Zartan: A mercenary serving Destro.[26]
Cameos include Larry Hama (as a general in a scene with Duke, Hawk, Destro and Zartan);[26] Kevin J. O'Connor (who had roles in Sommers's Deep Rising, The Mummy and Van Helsing) as a scientist in a flashback scene;[27] and Brendan Fraser as Gung-Ho and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Shipwreck.[28]
Production
Development
In 2003, Hasbro, headed by Brian Goldner, and Lorenzo di Bonaventura began developing a film based on their G.I. Joe toy line. Goldner and Bonaventura worked together before, creating toy lines for films Bonaventura produced as CEO of Warner Bros. Goldner and Bonaventura spent three months working out a story, and chose Michael B. Gordon as screenwriter, because they liked his script for 300.[29] Bonaventura wanted to depict the origin story of certain characters, and introduced the new character of Rex, to allow an exploration of Duke.[30] Rex's name came from Hasbro.[31] Beforehand, Don Murphy was interested in filming the property, but when the Iraq War broke out, he considered the subject matter inappropriate, and chose to develop Transformers (another Hasbro toy line) instead.[32] Bonaventura felt, "What [the Joes] stand for, and what Duke stands for specifically in the movie, is something that I'd like to think a worldwide audience might connect with."[30]
By February 1 2005, Paul Lovett and David Elliot, who wrote Bonaventura's Four Brothers (2005), were rewriting Gordon's draft.[33] Skip Woods was rewriting the script by March 2007, and he added the Alex Mann character from the British Action Man toy line. Bonaventura explained, "Unfortunately, our president has put us in a position internationally where it would be very difficult to release a movie called G.I. Joe. To add one character to the mix is sort of a fun thing to do."[11] The script was leaked online by El Mayimbe of Latino Review, who revealed Woods had dropped the Cobra Organization in favor of the Naja / Ryan, a crooked CIA agent. His henchman, Cool Dude, kills Scarlett (who is married to Action Man), and leaves Snake-Eyes mute. Mayimbe suggested Stuart Beattie rewrite the script.[34] Fan response to the film following the script review was negative. Bonaventura promised with subsequent rewrites, "I'm hoping we're going to get it right this time."[35] He admitted he had problems with Cobra, concurring with an interviewer "they were probably the stupidest evil organization out there [as depicted in the cartoon]".[11] Hasbro promised they would write Cobra back into the script.[36]
In August 2007, Paramount Pictures hired Stephen Sommers to direct the film after his presentation to CEO Brad Grey and production prexy Brad Weston was well-received.[4] Sommers had been inspired to explore the G.I. Joe universe after visiting Hasbro's headquarters in Rhode Island.[37] The project had found the momentum based on the success of Transformers (2007), which Bonaventura produced with Murphy.[4] Stuart Beattie was hired to write a new script for Sommers's film,[38] and G.I. Joe creator Larry Hama was hired as creative consultant. Hama helped them change story elements that fans would have disliked and made it closer to the comics, ultimately deciding fans would enjoy the script.[39] To speed up production before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, John Lee Hancock, Brian Koppelman and David Levien also assisted in writing various scenes.[40]
Filming
Filming began on February 11 2008,[41] in Los Angeles, California.[10] The Downey soundstage was chosen as Paramount needed a large stage to get production underway as soon as possible. The first two levels of the the Pit were built there, and it will look even bigger once effects are completed.[22] Downey also housed Destro's M.A.R.S. (Military Armament Research Syndicate) base in the Arctic, his legitimate weapons factory in an ex-Soviet state, as well as various submarines interiors, including a S.H.A.R.C. (Submersible High-speed Attack and Reconnaissance Craft) manned by two G.I. Joes.[42] For the interior of Destro's private submarine, designers sought inspiration from a Handley Page Jetstream.[43]
Filming in the country's Barrandov Studios will begin in May.[1] The crew will also take over sections of the Old Town in Prague.[44] While filming in the city on April 26, several people were injured when a bus and several cars collided with a four-wheel-drive vehicle that appeared to have braking problems. The emergency services confirmed those taken to hospital had minor injuries.[45]
Marketing
The film's actors have already been scanned for Hasbro's toy line.[8] Electronic Arts is developing a video game adaptation.[46]
References
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{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c Michael Fleming (2007-08-23). "Stephen Sommers to direct 'G.I. Joe'". Variety. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "Latest G.I. Joe News from 2008 Toy Fair - Cobra Commander Confirmed". ENI. 2008-02-16. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
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