August 24, 2007
I'm surprised it took this long
Announced on Variety.com: a live-action G.I. Joe movie, to be released summer of 2009 and directed by Stephen Sommers.
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.
While some remember the character from its gung-ho fighting man '60s incarnation, he's evolved. 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.
Brussels-based and more like an "X-Men" movie? I don't know, sounds like it could be weird. I guess that's what you'd expect from the guy who directed Van Helsing.
And I might be wrong, but reading over the Wikipedia G.I. Joe page, isn't the "double-crossing Scottish arms dealer" Destro? If they don't have Cobra Commander with the ultimate casting choice playing the role... man, I don't know. (Next fun diversion: picking the ultimate cast for the movie.)
I guess the time is ripe for this sort of thing. But yeah, I'm surprised it took this long, though on the other hand, I remember seeing a live-action G.I. Joe movie back in 1994...
