We all know that Channing "Step Up" Tatum is playing the character of Duke in the upcoming toy/cartoon-to-movie adaptation G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. But what you might not know is that Duke wasn't the character he had his eye on from the outset.

In an interview with MTV recently, Tatum revealed that he didn't want to play Duke at first, and instead had another character/role as his first choice. Here's what he had to say:

"I wanted to play Snake Eyes," laughed Tatum, "I wanted so badly to play Snake Eyes."

The role ultimately went to Darth Maul and Toad (from the first X-Men) himself Ray Park, but Tatum says: "Snake Eyes remains the coolest of the Joes simply because he never says word." He went on to talk about how he feels about doing big blockbusters like G.I. Joe compared to smaller films, and how he thinks the success of the film depends on what they do after shooting is complete:

Tatum compared "Joe" to work on films like "Fighting" and says that, as much fun as big blockbusters are to do, there's a greater satisfaction coming off a smaller film simply because you have a better idea of what the end result will be. He says that the success of "Joe" hangs on what happens in post.

"I haven't seen it yet. Doing those films you have no idea. They're over half digital.. I'd say almost 75% digital because you're doing all this stuff, but the way they create the world is all in the computer. I knew what ‘Fighting' was going to be a thousand times more than ‘GI Joe'. You never know. You're looking at a green screen and you're sitting in a chair and you're having to imagine that you're flying around the arctic under the polar ice caps. You have no idea what that looks like so they just shout things like, ‘There's an explosion to your right! There's an explosion to your left! Someone's shooting at you and you duck down!' It's like the grown-up version of make-believe."

I realize that films like G.I. Joe have a lot put into the post-production side of things, but is it just me or does 75% seem a bit high? I mean, we all want the best out of the movie using what they have technology-wise, but at the same time we don't want it all to be computer generated imagery.

I think the real reason Tatum had his eye on Snake Eyes at first was because (and correct me if you think I'm wrong here) he's one of the characters who gets to do some of the most kick-ass things. Tatum was probably just fantasizing but not really expecting the role to swing his way, because Snake Eyes needs an agile, almost acrobatic style actor to play him, and Tatum just doesn't come across like that.

This film looks like a disaster waiting to be thrust upon the audience come August, but who knows, that perception may just be the result of crappy marketing, and this thing could turn out to be kick-ass.

But it's not looking all that promising, now is it...?

Do you think Tatum would have made a good Snake Eyes? And what do you think of the film apparently being 75% digitally created?

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is to be released on August 7th this year.

Source: MTV News