Stephen Sommers To Direct "G.I. Joe"

[Ragingblues]

Stephen Sommers to Direct "G.I. Joe"

www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=6240





Paramount Pictures has confirmed that Stephen Sommers (Van Helsing, The Mummy Returns, The Mummy) will direct G.I. Joe, the live-action feature based on Hasbro's line of action figures.

IESB.net, meanwhile, says the studio has also hired Stuart Beattie (30 Days of Night, Collateral, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) to write the new script.

A February production start is planned for a summer 2009 release.

Variety says the accelerated production schedule began right after Sommers pitched his version of the film to Paramount chairman-CEO Brad Grey and production president Brad Weston on Wednesday evening. He was hired in the room.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura will produce with Hasbro chief operating officer Brian Goldner. Sommers and his Sommers Co. partner Bob Ducsay will also be involved as producers.

Hasbro's Goldner said that the mythology of G.I Joe was fleshed out during the 1980s through 155 issues of Marvel Comics, as well as an animated TV series. There are about 30 core characters, good and evil, that can be exploited in films.

"Marrying Steve's vision with 25 years of this brand mythology feels like a great way to go forward," Goldner said.

"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 said. "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."

"My experience with beloved properties is that characters, attitude and tone are even more important than plot," di Bonaventura said. "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."

---------------------

I wonder if the guy who plays him will wind up with the dreaded action figure jungle rot, that causes his hair to fall out in a small patch on the back of his head....

Nah, I doubt it.

Ken

[pitfallharry]

Ooooh.....this should send the price of my gigantic GI: JOE collection through the roof. I've the "straight armed" versions and the ones with "Swivel Arm Battle Grip" ;D

I'm kinda 50/50 on the director. It's good to hear they're getting a new script. The other one floating around the web was horrible.....

I can't wait to see Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow , Destro , Zartan and Cobra Commander up on the big screen.

[Ragingblues]

Well, if this turns out to be true... you can count me out from watching the G.I. Joe movie when it comes out:

G.I. Joe to Become Global Task Force in Movie

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296054,00.html


Say it ain't so, G.I. Joe.

The popular all-American comic-book military man and action figure dating back to the 1940s is undergoing a significant transformation for the Paramount Pictures-distributed "G.I. Joe" film, which begins production in February and is scheduled for release in summer 2009.

No longer will G.I. Joe be a U.S. Special Forces soldier, the "Real American Hero" who, in his glory days, single-handedly won World War II.

In the politically correct new millennium, G.I. Joe bears no resemblance to the original.

Paramount has confirmed that in the movie, the name G.I. Joe will become an acronym for "Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity" — an international, coed task force charged with defeating bad guys. It will no longer stand for government issued, as in issued by the American government.

The studio won't elaborate, saying filming hasn't begun and details are still in the works, but the behind-the-scenes rumblings are that the producers have decided to change the nature of G.I. Joe in order to appeal to a wider, more international audience.

The word is that in the current political climate, they're afraid that a heroic U.S. soldier won't fly.

Joe's transformation, however, isn't sitting well with diehard fans and military types.

"I find it outrageous that they'd want to drop everything American" from the character, said conservative blogger Warner Todd Huston, who wrote about the rumors this week on Newsbusters.org and his own blog. "That's nuts."

Retired Army Col. David W. Hunt, a FOX News military and terrorism analyst, called the scheme to make a whole new Joe "a shame."

"G.I. Joe is a U.S. guy," Hunt said. "What are we going to call it — Global Joe? International Joe? It's kind of stupid. It's ridiculous that they're doing that."

Paramount wouldn't say whether an American would be part of the new "global entity," nor would it offer specifics about the storyline or the characters.

"It is too early to tell about plots. We just don't know that," Jessica Rovins, a marketing executive at Paramount, told FOXNews.com.

But she did confirm the accuracy of an article that ran in the film trade publication Variety, which reported last week that G.I. Joe the soldier is being transformed into G.I.J.O.E. the task force.

A Navy spokeswoman said the studio and film's writers have already approached people at the Pentagon for input.

"They had talked about what would be the best way forward, but without seeing a treatment we don’t know yet which way it’s going to go," Lt. Stephanie Murdock, a project officer in the Navy Office of Information West, told FOXNews.com. "We're definitely open to assisting them when they get around to asking us."

But with no script in hand, she said, it's hard to gauge how the military feels about the characterization of G.I. Joe.

The comic-book character and toy line have already undergone an evolution of sorts since Joe first won the hearts of American little boys — and some little girls — beginning in 1942 with the comic strip and in the early 1960s with the action figure.

In the 1940s, he debuted as a comic-book hero in a strip that ran in U.S. military magazines during World War II.

In the 1960s, G.I. Joe was a burly U.S. Special Forces soldier, the "Real American Hero" of both comic book and action figure fame. The doll had various versions and counterparts of different races and ethnicities, but he was clearly an American male soldier.

In the post-Vietnam War era in the 1970s, Hasbro decided to downplay G.I. Joe's military theme by renaming the line "The Adventures of G.I. Joe" and recasting Joe as the leader of an adventure team charged with espionage missions and fighting evil.

But in the 1980s, the toy company Hasbro made G.I. Joe more of a superhero and added a host of other action figures, expanding the line to include characters that made up a team of international operatives.

Now some critics say the globalization of G.I. Joe has gone too far.

"G.I. Joe is not an international hero. That's crap," said Col. Hunt. "They don't have to water it down. That doesn't make sense."

For blogger Huston, who played with G.I. Joe as a boy, transforming the entire character into an amorphous task force in the movie feels like a hit to his childhood memories.

"I certainly understand that it's for international audiences, but these things are American icons," he said. "Why even pretend it's G.I. Joe then? I am a little bit upset about the whole thing."

Huston believes it's the latest example of Hollywood's hostility toward all things American, and he said he probably won't go to see the film if the existing plans are executed.

"It's the last spit in the face of our military," Huston said. "The doll was G.I. Joe, the government-issued guy who was a hero and American. It was celebrating this one heroic soldier. They want to take even that away."

But in order to be a true success these days, a film has to play well to foreign markets as well as stateside in everything from box-office to DVD sales.

For some citizens of other countries — where sentiments against the Iraq war and the American government are strong — a U.S. soldier might not be the easiest character to get viewers to identify with.

Paramount's Rob Moore, a high-level marketing executive, recently told AdAge.com that it was too soon to know what the global response would be to the film.

"Until there's a [locked] script, I don't think you can really comment on what the international reaction will be," he said. "There are parts of the world where [the negative perception of the American government] is an issue, like Western Europe, and parts where it isn't, like the U.K., Australia and Asia."

Hasbro, the maker of the G.I. Joe action figure line, declined to comment about what's in store for its line of G.I. Joe toys and action figures.

But the toy company's chief operating officer, Brian Goldner, has previously spoken to the media about plans for the movie and brand.

"There are always challenges ... G.I. Joe is not just a brand that represents the military, it also represents great characters," he told AdAge.com. "We'll weigh our options. Clearly we do a lot of work on consumer insight."

The film will be directed by Stephen Sommers, produced by Di Bonaventura Films — which just did the highly successful "Transformers" movie — and written by Stuart Beattie and Skip Woods.

---------------------------------------


Real American hero? Maybe not anymore....


Ken

[Havana]

I have mixed feelings about Summers. He can make a good movie if they can restrain him. He usually goes off the deep end. The first Mummy was pretty good but he said he didn't have the budget to do what he wanted with that one. Van Helsing had a super budget and came out like an incoherent fever dream.
I was a big fan of the GI Joe comics when I was young. They were more grounded in reality and mature themed than the popular cartoon show. I even had one of the old 12" figures when I was very young. It was kind of like a macho Barbie doll with fatigues and guns instead of dresses. G.I. Joe is an American icon. I hope that latest bit of news is just hot air. I just can't believe they would do such a thing but on the other hand, I can.

[pitfallharry]

Ok, I guess I'm a little confused. The original GI.Joe line that came out in the 60's was sort of based on one "figure" and that was basically a US Soldier. This is what I believe FOX and the others are referring to.

The revamped line that I grew up with came out in 85 or 86 isn't the same thing. Yes, it's US based but it's a Special Forces Unit that's task is to fight terrorism.....namely Cobra. Now the task force, even though it's US based , basically has operatives working for it from around the globe......just the same as Cobra. This is what the film is based on. Those line of toys NOT the 60's US Soldier toy line.

Yes, I don't like the little change to the name and I think it is PC run amok but I don't think it's totally Anti-American either.

To be honest the little tweak to the name isn't that big of an issue because it actually better describes what the team already was.

Some of my favorite characters from the series weren't even American either.

Honestly, I'm more concerned about the storyline, actors and directing than this.......Besides, Summers has already said he's going to try to live up to the cartoon and for the moment I'm willing to give him and the studio the benefit of the doubt.

[Ragingblues]

The name change may not be a big deal to you PH, but it is to me. Special Forces mumbo jumbo... in 1985 I was a junior/senior in high school and couldn't have given 2 craps about G.I. Joe. What I grew up with, and what we all remember as the character was "G.I. Joe - Real American Hero".... a U.S. Soldier.

If they want to make a new special forces, world protection unit, non country affiliated, politically correct action hero... let them just create a new one. Call him Action Pete or U.N. Mike or whatever. But, to change the basic concept of a character defeats the purpose entirely.

Ken

[GCR]

admin said:

If they want to make a new special forces, world protection unit, non country affiliated, politically correct action hero... let them just create a new one. Call him Action Pete or U.N. Mike or whatever. But, to change the basic concept of a character defeats the purpose entirely.

Ken

Exactly! I'm no fan of PC bullplop, especially when it's at the expense of a cultural icon like G.I. Joe! Could someone explain to me the point of making a movie using the G.I. Joe name, that has nothing to do with G.I. Joe? I mean why even bother? Like Ken said, make it an original concept and name it something else (I was partial to U.N. Mike, myself ;D ).

G.I. Joe is G.I. Joe, let's keep it that way.

-GCR

[pitfallharry]

See, the problem is neither of you are aware of the property they're are basing this movie on.

RB, you said it yourself......back in 85 you could have cared less about G.I. JOE at all. Well, that's the period of the toy line's history this film is based on.

The cartoon and the books didn't just center on American soldiers. It centered on an American lead task force that had operatives working for it from all over the world. Hell, all you have to do is hear the beginning of the cartoon and it says "G.I. JOE is a codename for the task force". The only difference was that it was American lead and not based out of the U.N. In fact it seemed like the entire task force was kind of "black Ops" to some degree and even the President didn't fully know what they were.....

I've been following this since the rumors started back when Transformers was a big hit. I knew it wasn't to long before G.I. JOE got it's turn on the big screen. In fact the property as I knew it has been screaming to be made for years.

I read the review of the first leaked script and it was sh*t. It included another toy property called "Action Man" and mixed him in with the "Joe Universe". From what I've been able to gather Summer's movie will follow what I grew up with......G.I. JOE vs Cobra.

The tiny (and I do mean tiny) change in the meaning of "G.I." in the codename is not something I'm going to get bent out of shape over. It actually fits the description of the team better.

Like I said I've followed the current incarnation of the toy line, the comic and the cartoon since it debuted. I've been a big fan. I read the article and what FOX is talking about and the so called "die hard" fans that are upset are the fans of the original toy line of 12 inch figures. The ones they still sell and that are basically just "generic" figures depicting different parts of the armed forces.

It's quite clear the people complaining don't have a clue as to what the film is based on. They saw the title G.I. JOE and assumed it was the 60's toy line.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for sticking up for the good old Red, White and Blue. I can't stand all of this PC bullsh*t anymore than the rest of you. I won't stand quietly by and let someone p*ss on the American flag or the soldiers that fought to protect it.

In this case however I think it's all being blown way our of proportion by a bunch of people who simply are misinformed about what property the actual film is based on.

Even I'm not immune to "jumping the gun" when it comes to movie stuff. I was ready to give up hope when Shia was announced as Indy's son but now that I've seen him in Transformers and in some of the still shots from Indy 4 I've totally changed my mind about it....

So, yeah......I think people are "jumping the gun" with this.

I'm taking a more "wait and see" approach with this and I'm more concerned with the plot and them getting the characters right.

www.hasbro.com/gijoe/

[Ragingblues]

Before you start trying to the rest of the world in it's place, you had better buckle up for a ride. I'm not one that is prone to jumping the gun on many things, and I'm most certainly not alone with my view on this.

The character of G.I. Joe started out as a WWII soldier in the 60's and remained a U.S. soldier until now. In the 80's, the Joe team took on the evil terrorist group "Cobra" and he was heavily marketed as "A Real American Hero". He was unabashedly patriotic, even in his modified "team" state, which was very much a U.S. Based Special Forces Unit.

This new movie incarnation of the character is not based on the mid 80's series as you were thinking, but is instead, a new version altogether. Abandoning his American base Joe now works for an international operation based in Brussels. Variety magazine 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."

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.

This is yet another step in the neutering of classic fictional characters, toys, etc.... all in the name of selling more tickets overseas. The whole thing stinks too much for me.... so I'll pass.


Ken

[pitfallharry]

I only saw what you posted with the FOX article. I didn't see the description Variety printed.

Considering the major screw-up the first draft of the script was this doesn't surprise me. Yet, it's probably not the final draft either. In fact I doubt the ink is even dry on the current one. So who knows where this will end up. I watched the latest Superman film start and stop for years. It's possible Summers might even end up leaving the project.

That's why it is "jumping the gun". Until this thing is shot and ready to be shown in the theaters no one knows what the final product is going to be.

In think to a certain degree the execs at Paramount have a point. In this day and age selling "G.I. Joe : A Real American Hero" is a tough sell overseas. Now the reason for that is debatable because I lay some of the blame on our own media.......but that's a whole other issue.

Like I said.....it's to early to tell how this is going to turn out so I'm not going to loose any sleep over it. IF they don't get it right then it won't be the first time Hollywood has raped a fond memory from my youth.

Right now the current story sounds more like "Team America : World Police" or that awful Street Fighter movie........Gag...

[Prof.Wex]

G.I. JOE,

BECAUSE KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE! ;D ;D ;D

Sincerely, Prof.Wex

[pitfallharry]

profwex said:

G.I. JOE,

BECAUSE KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE! ;D ;D ;D

Sincerely, Prof.Wex

;D ;D

Lord, I hope they don't use that anywhere in the new film. I hated those segments at the end of the cartoon. I guess it was someones attempt at trying to do something good because kids were watching but they were always so cheesy.

Another thing that bothered me. The friggin laser guns and that every single Cobra pilot was always shown safely parachuting away from their jet not matter how horrible the explosion was. ;D

Does anyone know if these are out on DVD?

[pitfallharry]

Just a little update on the film. Sounds prefect to me...


Hasbro has released to following message to fans regarding Paramount Pictures' live-action G.I. Joe adaptation, to be directed by Stephen Sommers and written by Stuart Beattie:

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.

G.I. Joe is expected to hit theaters in 2009.

[Ragingblues]

Yep.... it smells like a slick P.R. move to help explain why they aren't going with the classic U.S. Military hero "G.I. Joe".


Ken