IESB nabbed the exclusive news that Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are the two writers who will be penning the upcoming sequel to G.I. Joe. If those names sound familiar, it’s because just yesterday we reported that the pair will also be penning the upcoming Deadpool movie.
For those keeping count, that means that Reese and Wernick now have G.I. Joe 2, Zombieland 2 AND Deadpool under their belts. Good time to be Reese and Wernick – bad time to be their hands (carpal tunnel alert!).
I know a lot of you might hear this news and get a tingle of hope that two up-and-coming writers will make G.I. Joe 2 more sensible than G.I. Joe 1 – but pump your brakes for a second and consider this:
- As far as the studio is concerned, Rise of Cobra worked. Don’t expect them to alter the game plan all that much.
- Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 30 Days of Night) was one of the writers of Rise of Cobra. That guy was pretty well-liked by fans, and still, look how ROC turned out.
- The G.I. Joe franchise ain’t Zombieland. Creative freedom and original storytelling? Slim chance.
- These guys now have a pretty full plate. Let’s hope the demands on them don’t affect the quality of the scripts.
Of course, one positive thing going for G.I. Joe 2: no pesky writer’s strike to get in the way of the script drafting process this time. People say the 2007 strike was a heavy blow to the films being developed at that time for Summer ’09. Guess we’ll see soon enough just how true (or not) that is.
I might sound cynical but in the end, I do truly believe the script for G.I. Joe 2 is in good hands. I just know how a movie that starts off with an excellent script and writing team can still ultimately turn out crappy…
More on G.I. Joe 2 as we hear it.
Source: IESB
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The only thing I liked about the first film was Levitt’s performance as The Doctor.
But, I’ll probably give the sequel a chance.
SUMMERS CAME IN 25M OVER BUDGET ON GIJ1 AND HAD FREQUENT CLASHINGS WITH DIBONAVENTURA AND PARAMOUNT HEAD BRAD GREY, I’LL BE SHOCKED IF HE DIRECTS GIJ2.
@ Matt,
I loved Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance and Ray Park as Snake Eyes was a win.
Not much else I loved though.
@Rob – You obviously weren’t paying attention to Scarlette and Baroness’ um…assets
I should be totally excite about this but look what Kurtzman and Orci did to Revenge of the Fallen…
Though I’m still with you Vic, I liked the first one and am hopeful a sequel will work out ok.
The key to my liking the first one heavily relied on checking my brain at the door. Yet, for as much as people bring up points that didn’t work in the movie, there was a lot of stuff that did. I’d equate it to the how people perceived the Mummy when it came out. It looked like it wouldn’t fare well and it did fine (but let’s not bring up the sequels). Sommers’s films are kind of like guilty pleasures.
Whether he directs or not he’ll still be associated in some way I bet. I’m looking forward to this!!
Have to agree that I’ll see the baroness as many times as she wants to be seen. On the other hand, as a popcorn flick gi joe worked for me and I am a huge joe fan. I’d love to see more character development and depth but with as many main characters and story lines as they have, I really don’t expect it. Hate to admit it but if they can build on what they did I’ll be pretty happy. I’m excited to see what they do with sepentor.
what next, they get to write the avengers no wait how about captain america and a sequel to avatar, yeah that will be cool*
this might screw up deadpool, depending on release dates/dead lines. i honestly think they should have turned down the offer, as people have high expectations for deadpool and if they screw that it might screw their careers as writers
* im being sarcastic btw
When i watched GI Joe I expected Revenge of the Fallen and was surprised, somewhat pleasantly, that the movie was actually watchable and wasnt bad. Its wasnt GOOD by any means, but it certainly wasnt bad. I liked the nanotechnology spin on the franchise, and I liked Cobra Commander, Snake Eyes, Destro, Baroness, Storm Shadow, and even Ripcord(because Marlon wasnt being Marlon, which is a plus). I especially liked the creation of the Destro that we all know at the end of the movie.
I severely disliked the Duke story with Baroness and the way it played out, even if it did bring Cobra Commander into the storyline. Given the way CGI is nowadays, I would have to say that the CGI for GI Joe was pretty disappointing, and that needs to be cleaned up. General Hawk was a weanie too, and his character needs to be a little more in your face.
The movie franchise really depends on this second movie IMO. It can be much better, or it can be Revenge of the Fallen.
Agree with kyyle23 – less Duke and Baroness. More Cobra Commander, Destro, and maybe the Dreadnoks for #2. Too bad the voice actor for CC died. Loved the voice of cobra commander.
They should have hired the writers from GIJOE “Resolute”. Maybe not to pin the whole thing but to at least be envolved. Resolute was wayyyyy better than the live action movie. At another post I said that they need to stick with those signature outfits they wore but just modernize it. Some guy gets mad and calls me stupid saying “Look at Gung Ho, that would look stupid on film” Well its not live action but Gung Ho’s new design totally worked in Resolute. The characters I would like to see in live action are “Spirit”, Mutt & Junkyard, Lady Jaye, and Xomat & Tomax.
What I don’t understand is how GI JOE gets a sequel, which I have no problem with, but Van Helsing, which grossed an almost identical amount (JOE 301million; Van Helsing 300 million) as GI JOE, had similar PB, JOE cost more with a production budget of 175 million to Helsings 160 million, DVD sales for JOE last year were 60 million in total and Van Helsing made 65 million in DVD sales during it’s first week!! SO why no sequel for the monster flick? Rotten tomatoes scroes Helsing @ 22% and JOE @ 36%.. I know a lot of people don’t like Helsing but it’s a guilty pleasure for my wife and I and we watch it at least once a year..
WHere’s VH 2???!!
Kind of funny that Sommers directed both films..
What a waste of talent. GI Joe was a steaming pile of crap. There is no chance in hell I will see the sequel.
greenknight333 says:” SO why no sequel for the monster flick?”
If I had never seen “Van Helsing” up to today, I would watch it. Having seen it several times It’s still watchable. Perhaps its problem lies either beyond the numbers or the fact that its persistence in theaters wasn’t quite as great as “Cobra.” “Van Helsing” had been dropped by three times more theaters by its third week than “Cobra” this is despite “Cobra” opening in more theaters than “Van Helsing.”
Low B.O receipts is better than no receipts. We are talking small numbers here but if you demand a numerical reason this might qualify. Beyond that is insider information or a far greater research effort. Besides with the death of Kate Beckinsale’s character and if Jackman has no interest its not much of a property. What other monsters of that era is there to fight anyway? Just playing devil’s advocate G.N., I love a classic monster movie.
why all the hate for gijoe movie? this movie was exactly wut the cartoon provided, just going all out it its action story and one liners. its like they just poped out of the tv and turned human. anyways this movie was better than both TF movies combined.
I was pretty easy on G.I. Joe in my review, but it definitely did not hold up to a second viewing.
Vic
I kind of find it funny how critical some people are of G.I. Joe considering the source material. The movie had every thing the cartoon had, crazy characters, futuristic weapons and vehicles, and a super cool underwater Cobra base. What more do you need.
What little part of my childhood Transformers 2 killed, ROC brought back.
What more do we need? How about being faithful to the Larry Hama comic book? You talk about the source material without even knowing what it actually is! The people who criticize the movie are mostly fans of the Marvel comic that had far superior storytelling, character development, and grittier action! I also do not like the way the movie desacrated Snake Eyes, giving most of his backstory to Duke and ignoring Snake Eyes' romance with Scarlett only to try and pair her with Ripcord for god's sake! And all for the same lame, tired, cop-out excuse that the cartoons gave……..Snake Eyes doesn't talk! Guess what? Snake Eyes and Scarlett are the most popular characters in the comics and deserve their due! If we are critical of the movie it's because Sin City, 300, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight have shown how good a movie can be if is sticks to the comic book source material, and that's what we REALLY want!
NONE OF THOSE MOVIES TOTALLY FOLLOWED THE COMIC BOOK YOU FREAKING DORK GET A LIFE
Yes they did, you ignorant moron. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were both inspired by Frank Miller's Batman Year One and Jeoph Loeb's The Long Halloween, and Sin City and 300 were nearly frame-by-frame translations of the comic books. GI Joe completely ignored Larry Hama's superior comic book storyline which after nearly 30 years still has yet to be fathfully adapted to the screen, and as a fan I have a right to express my opinon. It's called the first amendment, which fascists like you seem to have a problem with.
NONE OF THOSE MOVIES TOTALLY FOLLOWED THE COMIC BOOK YOU FREAKING DORK GET A LIFE
Yes they did, you ignorant moron. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were both inspired by Frank Miller's Batman Year One and Jeoph Loeb's The Long Halloween, and Sin City and 300 were nearly frame-by-frame translations of the comic books. GI Joe completely ignored Larry Hama's superior comic book storyline which after nearly 30 years still has yet to be fathfully adapted to the screen, and as a fan I have a right to express my opinon. It's called the first amendment, which fascists like you seem to have a problem with.