The REAL Reason “GI Joe: Retaliation” Was Delayed

Claiming that they needed to spend nine months to add 3D, a lot of people called BS on Paramount, and for good reason, too. I mean, come on, give me a break. Nine months to add 3D? Really? That’s a two or three month job at the most. I understand that most of the summer release spots were taken, but why not just release it in the fall?

CinemaBlend has the entire scoop, and instead of just rewriting it less eloquently for fear of committing plagiarism (and a general lack of motivation on my part), I’ll post what they had on their article regarding GI Joe: Retaliation:

“Paramount decided to shift G.I. Joe: Retaliation to next winter and the reason is because the studio wasn’t confident that the movie could compete with Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man. Set to be released on July 3rd, webhead would have only given G.I. Joe five days, at most. at the top of the box office, and many anticipate that the success of The Avengers will translate to greater success for all superhero movies, including our friendly neighborhood webslinger. Also helping out box office numbers next year will be the added 3D, which should pad Paramount’s international numbers quite nicely.

But the other reason for the move is Mr. Channing Tatum. Watching the trailers for G.I. Joe: Retaliation, it’s pretty clear that Tatum, who played Duke in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, bites the big one early in the film. With 21 Jump Street and The Vow performing as well as they did, however, the studio is thinking that killing Tatum off wasn’t the best idea in the world. It’s expected that in the next nine months Tatum will be brought in for re-shoots so that they can expand his part – which is a clean way of saying that he could be resurrected.”

This is both interesting and disappointing. Initially I loved the bold choice to kill of Tatum in the first act. Then again, considering both Bruce Willis AND The Rock are in this movie, bringing Channing Tatum back for a third act showdown might not be such a bad idea, but it’s just too predictable. I understand the attempt to make as much money as possible, but if you’re going to make a move as ballsy as that, at least have the nerve to stick through with it until the end.

And just because…

G.I. Joe: Retaliation – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

I don’t think that anything could possibly redeem the G.I. Joe movie franchise at this point since that crapfest that was the first G.I. Joe, but I’m sure giving the people behind this movie some credit for trying thus far. The cast seems too good to be true… or to be in this movie. Not only is Channing Tatum returning (Puke), but there are some newcomers you may have heard of. The first is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who recently twittered a picture of him as his character in the sequel, Roadblock:

Now I’m not saying the Rock is a great actor but he definitely has the ability to draw people to the box office. His star presence helped push the latest Fast and Furious movie to the brink of box office juggernaut. Also joining up into the ranks is the one and only Bruce Willis as G.I. Joe commander Joe Colton. This one surprised me the most and made me wonder if Willis was going the Samuel L. Jackson route of just appearing in any movie that would pay him. Also joining the film are Walton Goggins (The Shield, Justified), Ray Stevenson (Book of Eli, Punisher: War Zone), and Adrianne Palicki, the hot Wonder Woman who never saw the light of day. That is one decent cast filled with a lot of actors/actresses that I enjoy, minus Channing Tatum of course. Once they manage to get a trailer out I can pass judgement on whether or not I’ll be sucked in by this follow-up to that Stephen Sommers piece of trash.