GI Joe movie spinoff Snake Eyes has begun filming in Tokyo, Japan, with star Henry Golding and the rest of the cast/crew receiving a blessing beforehand. The upcoming film explores the origins of the titular ninja commando, who was previously brought to life in live-action by Ray Park in GI Joe: Rise of Cobra and GI Joe: Retaliation. He's since been replaced in Paramount's forthcoming spinoff, with Crazy Rich Asians and Last Christmas actor Golding taking over the role.
Unlike Retaliation, which functioned as a soft reboot of the live-action franchise after 2009's Rise of Cobra disappointed critically and commercially, Snake Eyes is a fresh start for the IP that recasts key GI Joe characters like Baroness (Úrsula Corberó, taking over from Sienna Miller) and Scarlett (Samara Weaving, filling Rachel Nichols' old spot), in addition to Snake Eyes and his his brother-turned enemy Storm Shadow (Andrew Koji, after Lee Byung-Hun played the character as an adult in Rise of Cobra). Production reportedly got underway on the movie in Vancouver last fall, in order to keep it moving on-schedule to make its current mid-October 2020 theatrical release date.
Shooting on Snake Eyes has now shifted to Tokyo, Japan, with the film's cast and crew having received a blessing at the Hie-Jinja Shrine ahead of time. You can check out a photo from the ceremony below, along with an image of Snake Eyes executive producer Jeff Waxman, stunt coordinator Kenji Tanigaki, Takehiro Hira (Kenta), Haruka Abe (Akiko), Golding, Koji, director Robert Schwentke, and executive producer Erik Howsam.
Snake Eyes is one of the riskier box office bets Paramount is making this year, along with its live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie and belated Tom Cruise sequel, Top Gun: Maverick. Rise of Cobra, as mentioned, under-performed in more than one regard and its 2013 followup, Retaliation, was only moderately more successful thanks to a (slight) uptick at the global box office, a lower budget, and the addition of Dwayne Johnson (who starred as Roadblock). As a result, a third installment in the original GI Joe continuity was considered until 2018, when Paramount announced it would be hitting the restart button with a Snake Eyes prequel instead. Clearly, the studio is hoping third time's the charm when it comes to this particular property.
Based on Schwentke's track record alone, Snake Eyes could go either way. The director scored a surprise crowd-pleaser when he adapted the comic book RED in 2010, but his followup (an adaptation of the RIPD comic book) was a notorious bomb. He then went on to helm the mostly successful second Divergent film, Insurgent, before the franchise crashed and burned with his sequel, Allegiant, a year later. Writer Evan Spiliotopoulos' resume is equally uneven, boasting some big hits (Disney's Beauty and the Beast remake) but also multiple commercial duds (The Huntsman: Winter's War, Charlie's Angels 2019). Combine that with diminished interest in the brand after the first two GI Joe films, and Snake Eyes is facing a steep (though doable all the same) uphill climb to success.
Source: Paramount Pictures