UPDATE: Sommers out, 3 finalist to direct G.I. Joe sequel

UPDATE: Chu has been chosen to direct.  I hate the notion that the same guy who directed a Justin Bieber documentary will be directing a G.I. Joe film.  Stupid.  That is all.

Wait a second.  Wasn't Stephen Sommers quoted as saying he began work on a sequel to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra?  The answer is yes.  We all thought he was coming back despite all the documented tension between him and the studio, Paramount.  Well, forget allllllllllll that, he's out.  I wont even tell you the b.s. comments by both parties because there's no substance to any of it.  They're both trying to play nice.  I liked the movie, a lot.  It was the summer or a bunch of bad movies, but G.I. Joe was entertaining, despite all the negative reviews.  Click here to read my original review.

Love or hate the first film, here are the three directors up for the sequel:

Jaume Collet-Serra 

He's got Unknown coming out this week and has a short, yet nice resume under his belt.  He directed Orphan and Goal II: Living The Dream.  If anything, he has a knack for action.  Based solely on the trailers to Unknown, the man can shoot action sequences.  Then again we all know better than to trust a trailer.  We'll see about this young man.





F. Gary Gray

My pick to take on the franchise.  He is the veteran among this trio and should be a strong candidate.  With action thrillers under his belt like The Italian Job and Law Abiding Citizen, he knows what he's doing.  I'm a huge fan of those two films as well as some others that Gray has directed.  Again, he has my vote.





Jon Chu

The head scratcher in the trio is Chu.  Step Up 2 and Step Up 3D, the hell?  Justin Douche Bager: Never Say Never?  You wonder where these rumors come from sometimes.  I read it on /Slashfilm so you know there's at least a little validity to the story.  I don't want to give Chu directing much thought, so I'll stop. 

Let's all hope Gray gets the job!

Oh how quickly Hollywood changes its mind, G.I. Joe 2 coming?

Remember when we reported that Stephen Sommers may be fired from G.I. Joe? And remember when people (ourselves included) bashed the special effects really badly when the trailer came out? Well apparently G.I. Joe is the best movie of the summer, according to online sources. So good in fact, that the media has turned in a positive direction for Sommers. Sooo good in fact, that a sequel is worth discussing even before the first one is released? Holy wow! Here's what Sommers had to say to superherohype.com:

...I'm getting very excited about doing G.I. Joe 2. I'm working on Tarzan at Warner Brothers and they're a bunch of great people. (It will be) live action but we'll contemporize it. It'll still be a period movie, but it's almost like The Mummy, it took place in Ancient Egypt and the '20s and '30s, but it felt more contemporary, that sort of deal.

Are you serious? G.I. Joe 2? Tarzan?!? What the heck? Now I'm seriously scratching my head. Either Sommers has completely lost it, or G.I. Joe is THAT good. I don't know what else to say. We'll have to wait for this Friday when the movie is released. Let us know if you've seen it, and what you thought.

Quickie: Nearly 4 minutes of G.I. Joe

Browsing around vimeo.com, and I came across this video of Director Stephen Sommers explaining the Paris chase scene in G.I. Joe. I have to be honest, this movie looks terrible. I could tell which shots were legit versus the CGI (computer generated images) ones. Darn man, why does Hollywood keep finding ways to ruin recycled material?! J-K. Well I'm not kidding, but this movie had so much potential, I'm already writing this one off. See the entire video, and let us know what you think.


G.I. JOE - Stephen Sommers in Paris from PPC Interactive on Vimeo.

Producers: Stephen Sommers is IN for G.I. Joe, not fired.

So just hours after Latino Review reported that Stephen Sommers was fired off of G.I. Joe, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura came to his rescue. Check out what the producer said of his director:

"We had three test screenings, three different times and tested it and each time it just got better and better," he said. "We started off in a good place and we ended up in even in a better place, which is what you hope on a film from testing it."

To me, this is just damage control. I've seen the trailer and believe me, it's more than enough reason to fire a director. Di Bonaventura continues:

"It's very unfair to Steve; It's completely untrue - he was never asked to leave or been fired or any of that. That's ridiculous. The movie tested very well."

Wow... seems like Matt and I are not the only ones that agree to disagree ;-)

Quickie: Is Stephen Sommers fired from G.I. Joe?

Latino Review is reporting that yes, Stephen Sommers was fired from G.I. Joe, and was not allowed to edit the picture. Folks, a few weeks ago, I told you an insider on the set criticized the director's choice of CGI over live action stunts, THAT WERE ALREADY FILMED! So I have to believe this rumor. Supposedly the test screening for the movie was so bad, they immediately ordered the firing of Sommers. Again, it's only rumored, but Sommers apparently knew nothing of G.I. Joe history or "mythology". Kind of difficult to make a genre film without knowing the origins isn't it? The man can direct big budget films, I mean he's done the first two 'Mummy' films and Van Helsing. But, the trailer looks so fake; the rumor is starting to sound pretty real. Keep it here and remember, ATD is the place for all your movie needs.