GI Joe lurches towards live-action filmdom (i.e. G.I. Joe live action)

[Ladic]

here is the link to darkhorizons news, the director apparently left the project.

Statham In?, Sommers Out Of "Joe"By Garth FranklinWednesday August 15th 2007 12:45am Whilst Mark Wahlberg is still the first choice to play Duke in the "G.I. Joe" film adaptation, now comes word that a certain "Transporter" may join the cast.

The IESB reports that Jason Statham is the first choice for Joe's British sidekick 'Action Man'. The characters will still be based from the original cartoons, toys and comics but with a globe-trotting flavor.

Skip Woods script was apparently written with Wahlberg and Statham specifically in mind and they are the first choice for Duke and Action Man. Elements of Woods' script and another one are being used for the new final draft.

Meanwhile it's been revealed at Latino Review that "The Mummy" helmer Stephen Sommers will not be directing the project after he apparently demanded too much money for the gig.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news07/070815j.php

[eugimon]

good, can't stand stephen sommers. he's like brett ratner, but without the whores.

[danth]

The black blind dude with the tattoo-hiding skin graft was....another guy whom I can't recall right now.

That was the Blind Master, if my memory is correct.

Man, Mark Walberg as Duke? I don't have anything against Marky Mark, but he is totally wrong for Duke.

[Sorata]

Try to get Transformers-style military cooperation. Too bad all the F-14's are gone, or we could have Skystrikers.

Though the plane is retired all the planes are not scrapped yet. A set alottment is set aside for a reserve and able to fly after maintenance for a certain period of time. This has been done numerous times like with the F-84F and SR-71 for examples.

[David Hingtgen]

Yes, but there's very little chance they'd bring some out of storage, re-certify the crews, and refurbish them to get them flying, just for a movie.

[GutsAndCasca]

Action Man?

Marky Mark for Duke?

They'd better get Wesley Snipes for Snake Eyes then, and Chuck Norris for Storm Shadow. And they could always take old footage of Bruce Lee, CG some new clothing on him and cast him as Quick-Kick, or even better - as Tunnel Rat.

[JsARCLIGHT]

Snake Eyes is a blond haired, blue eyed white guy who looks like Casper Van Dein or Michael Biehn.

[GutsAndCasca]

Snake Eyes is a blond haired, blue eyed white guy who looks like Casper Van Dein or Michael Biehn.

Don't worry - I know. I was kidding. Believe me, you get to see Snake Eyes unmasked during the Snake Eyes trilogy. I was just trying to inject a little hollywood into the script. Anyway, they should cast Wesley Snipes, and have him talk trash a lot.

[GutsAndCasca]

Pff, my "friends" ripped off my GI Joes while I was on vacation and sold them to the neighborhood kids. That pissed me off royally. Yeah, I had to kick 3 brothers' butts that year. This thread makes me mad.

lol

oooooh, I'd be pissed. Make your brothers buy it all back on ebay now.

[Vermillion21]

Joes in the UK called "Action Man" ... WTF?

I think they were a special military team called "Action Force". I remember buying some comics when I was a kid.

[lord_breetai]

Joes in the UK called "Action Man" ... WTF?

I think they were a special military team called "Action Force". I remember buying some comics when I was a kid.

Action Force was the name of GI Joe a Real American Hero... but I think the larger dolls with the fabric clothing might have been Action Man (or Captain Action, something like that), I remember Jonathan Ross mentioning that on Japanorama.

[areaseven]

There's this guy on TV who has a tattoo of an ammo belt on his left thigh. I don't know his name, but he'd be perfect to play Duke.

[JsARCLIGHT]

Action Man dates back to the 12" dolls. The 12" "Joe" dolls in the UK were called Action Man. Unlike the American Joes who were shrunk down to become cheaper and fashionable, Action Man always remained a 12" Doll with cloth clothes. They even tried to bring Action Man to the US in the '90s... I remember seeing it on shelves here in brightly colored boxes. I'm pretty sure it bombed terribly.

[Vermillion21]

Action Man dates back to the 12" dolls. The 12" "Joe" dolls in the UK were called Action Man. Unlike the American Joes who were shrunk down to become cheaper and fashionable, Action Man always remained a 12" Doll with cloth clothes. They even tried to bring Action Man to the US in the '90s... I remember seeing it on shelves here in brightly colored boxes. I'm pretty sure it bombed terribly.

Oh. Thanks for the clarification ....

[LePoseur]

I have a lot of respect for Larry Hama and the stories he managed to tell. I mean, can you imagine trying to beat out a coherent comic plot when Hasbro keeps forcing you to drop in new characters, vehicles and crap practically every issue? While the story arcs did weird out from time to time I still can't believe he kept things as rooted as he did for as long as he did.

Remember Chuckles? Man, I'd like to have seen Hama's face when they said he had to write that Hawaiian-shirt wearing dolt into the team, much less Starforce. Plus, while I don't think he had any say in the whole initial "Let's add a ninja to the Cobras," to see how things could have turned out you need to look no further than the TV series to see how lame Storm Shadow could have been.

Bah, chalk me up as another who hates the TV. It even poisoned my kid mind against Duke cause everybody knew that Scarlet was Snake-eye's woman. Yeah, the comic up until Serpentor where awesome.

[Tinderfitles]

if they do make a movie like that i just hope that it doesnt have stupid easter eggs put in it just for fan boys and internet people.

Pork Chop Sandwiches?

[F-ZeroOne]

Action Force was the name of GI Joe a Real American Hero... but I think the larger dolls with the fabric clothing might have been Action Man (or Captain Action, something like that), I remember Jonathan Ross mentioning that on Japanorama.

There was an initial run of "Action Force" figures which, AFAIK, were unrelated to the smaller-size US G.I. Joe figures. Later, US-type G.I. Joe figures were sold under the same "Action Force" name. Even the Marvel UK comic was labelled as "Action Force" (if you ever see a UK comic, you can see where the text has been edited in speech bubbles and the like), though later on the figures and comic were relabelled as "G.I. Joe". It was bloody Snickers/Marathon and Opal Fruits/Starburst all over again...

[Kin]

Live action movie ... I dunno, it could end up being another Street Fighter: the movie!!!

:lol:

And worse than Battle Force 2000, were the Eco-warrior and Drug Enforcement lines!!!

Lol mez thinking the same way... streetfighter... costumes in technicolor glory

[GutsAndCasca]

What is this Hama stuff I keep hearing about? I'm in the dark here.

[sabretooth]

he wrote the gijoe datacards

[Mog]

What is this Hama stuff I keep hearing about? I'm in the dark here.

Larry Hama is more well known for pretty much being the main writer for the old Marvel GI Joe comic book series.

Generally speaking, a lot of us big-time GI Joe fans may have been exposed first to GI Joe by way of the toys and the cartoon. But the comic book series is something that has definitely contributed greatly to the longevity and our fondness for the whole GI Joe franchise.

If I saw the words "Written by Larry Hama" in this potential movie's credits, I'd be a lot less worried.

(Of course, if the director is some hack or studio lackey, I'd still be very worried.)

[Vermillion21]

My understanding is that Hasbro approached Marvel comics to create a comic book for their new GI Joe military toy line back in 1982. Larry Hama got the assignment and not only wrote the comic book series, but most of the character backgrounds too. This would include the data cards on the back of each figure, as well as naming all the characters and vehicles.

He did an awesome job.

[Ladic]

originally it was supposed to be nick fury jr against hydra, but they scratched that and turned it into gi joe

[GutsAndCasca]

Larry Hama is more well known for pretty much being the main writer for the old Marvel GI Joe comic book series.

Generally speaking, a lot of us big-time GI Joe fans may have been exposed first to GI Joe by way of the toys and the cartoon. But the comic book series is something that has definitely contributed greatly to the longevity and our fondness for the whole GI Joe franchise.

If I saw the words "Written by Larry Hama" in this potential movie's credits, I'd be a lot less worried.

(Of course, if the director is some hack or studio lackey, I'd still be very worried.)

Okay - I started collecting comics at around age 5 or 6, and GI Joe was one of the 1st ones I collected. (That makes it... 1984 or 1985 ish) Yes, I could read that early, I skipped kindergarten because it was too boring. What sticks out the most in my mind is yes, I'll say it again, the Snake Eyes Trilogy (because he's always been my fave Joe by a longshot.) Did Hama write that? Or was that past his time? Was he around when Storm-Shadow joined GI Joe? What's most interesting here is the origin of the Baroness. Hama says she was from Japan??? I stopped collecting comics in Junior High... so I'm severely hampered in my comic knowledge to this day. But heck, I sure do know about the X-tinction Agenda, for whoever remembers that cross over series, or First Comics Ninja Turtles... everything Dark Horse... Mcfarlane doing the Hulk when he was grey. Man I wish I had all that crap again.

[Vermillion21]

Yes, Hama was responsible for the Snake Eyes Trilogy, Storm Shadow, & most of the "classic" GI Joe lore. I know he wrote the first 50 or so issues ...

[lord_breetai]

My understanding is that Hasbro approached Marvel comics to create a comic book for their new GI Joe military toy line back in 1982. Larry Hama got the assignment and not only wrote the comic book series, but most of the character backgrounds too. This would include the data cards on the back of each figure, as well as naming all the characters and vehicles.

He did an awesome job.

Pretty much... The way Hama recounted it in an issue of Toyfare, he had been interested in writing a military themed comic (being an ex-serviceman himself), he had been trying to pitch around a revitalized version of Fury's Howling Commandos, but it hadn't got off the ground. When Hasbro came in looking for a comic to be produced to support their new toyline, They literally went to every office and asked "hey want to write a toy comic for hasbro" and all got noes, Hama's office was the very last one in the line, and he of course accepted the assignment. Even suggesting a para-military organization as GI Joe's nemesis was Larry's idea.

The idea for the file cards actually came from Hama's own system for keeping track of characters where he would write up a full military dossier which included history, background a psychological profile and comments by a commander. When staff from Hasbro saw these they decided it was a must for the toyline, and condensed versions became the file cards.

I'll have to check what Toyfare that interview was in.

[Vermillion21]

lord_breetai - Thanks for the detailed info mate!

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Pretty much... The way Hama recounted it in an issue of Toyfare, he had been interested in writing a military themed comic (being an ex-serviceman himself), he had been trying to pitch around a revitalized version of Fury's Howling Commandos, but it hadn't got off the ground. When Hasbro came in looking for a comic to be produced to support their new toyline, They literally went to every office and asked "hey want to write a toy comic for hasbro" and all got noes, Hama's office was the very last one in the line, and he of course accepted the assignment. Even suggesting a para-military organization as GI Joe's nemesis was Larry's idea.

The idea for the file cards actually came from Hama's own system for keeping track of characters where he would write up a full military dossier which included history, background a psychological profile and comments by a commander. When staff from Hasbro saw these they decided it was a must for the toyline, and condensed versions became the file cards.

I'll have to check what Toyfare that interview was in.

If thats the same issue I remember, its the one where he names his top fav and top hated joe characters. The ones he hated where the Fridge, Drug Elimination Force(DEF) from 93, and Duke. Among his favorites were Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Cobra Commander and Zartan. Not surprisingly, Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes, and Cobra Commander tend to be the top 3 favorite characters of most fans. I think the issue was #81, though I might be wrong, it was written back in the late 90's.

Okay - I started collecting comics at around age 5 or 6, and GI Joe was one of the 1st ones I collected. (That makes it... 1984 or 1985 ish) Yes, I could read that early, I skipped kindergarten because it was too boring. What sticks out the most in my mind is yes, I'll say it again, the Snake Eyes Trilogy (because he's always been my fave Joe by a longshot.) Did Hama write that? Or was that past his time? Was he around when Storm-Shadow joined GI Joe? What's most interesting here is the origin of the Baroness. Hama says she was from Japan???

Yes Hama did write that. He wrote Gi joe from 1982-1995. He returned to the joe comics a few years back when DDP got the license, and wrote a few issues. He did issues 21-22 on the DDP run, a 2 part story of Storm Shadow finally overcoming his brainwashing from Cobra(something Hama planned for the marvel run in 1995 but did not get to write in), and issue 21 of this DDP run was an homage to Hama's "silent interlude" issue 21 from the marvel run. Mike Zeck did the pencils for the DDP issue 21, and like its predecessor, was also silent. Hama also wrote Gi Joe:Declassified last year, and Gi Joe:Frontline. Hama currently writes Storm Shadow, which is currently hitting shelves. The 3rd issue was delayed and came out last week. Baroness is European and witnessed her older brother getting shot in Vietnam.

[Vermillion21]

I didn't know that Hama re-did Silent Interlude ... may have to hunt around for that one.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

I didn't know that Hama re-did Silent Interlude ... may have to hunt around for that one.

He did both Silent Interludes, the original Marvel one in the early 80's, and the DDP one which is more recent. He may have actually drawn the Marvel one if I remember correctly. Though he is mostly known for his writing, Hama isn't a bad artist either, its just not well known that he drew a few issues.

[lord_breetai]

For me it's Storm Shadow, Hawk and Serpentor. Snake-eyes dosn't even rank, though CC would be somewhere on there.

Anyway can anything Hollywood dish-out be worse then

Sgt Savage and the Screaming Eagles (cause wouldn't it be cool if captain america was part of the GI Joe team?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-zGyBq8qTo

or

GI Joe Extreme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE61G6kV3OU

hmm... I admit I watched both of them (well was there more then the one ep for Savage that came with the figure?), but yeah... anything Hollywood does has to be better then that. (at least Savage had General Hawk).

[Smiley424]

Wow, as much as it seems that all the posts praise GI Joe Extreme as the most adult Joe show, I can't take that show seriously with an intro like that. I just keep going back to the South Park episode Chinpokomon and "Alabama Man".

[GutsAndCasca]

For me it's Storm Shadow, Hawk and Serpentor. Snake-eyes dosn't even rank, though CC would be somewhere on there.

Anyway can anything Hollywood dish-out be worse then

Sgt Savage and the Screaming Eagles (cause wouldn't it be cool if captain america was part of the GI Joe team?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-zGyBq8qTo

or

GI Joe Extreme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE61G6kV3OU

hmm... I admit I watched both of them (well was there more then the one ep for Savage that came with the figure?), but yeah... anything Hollywood does has to be better then that. (at least Savage had General Hawk).

I thought it was pretty awful when they made Street Fighter 2 toys for Gi Joe...

[eugimon]

Variety is reporting stephen sommers is going to direct gi joe:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111797075...yid=13&cs=1

[Uxi]

There are a whole bunch of arcs from teh comics they could adapt. I would love to see the Pit, General Austin, and Commando Snake Eyes in the first movie, but keeping Snake Eyes as a secondary, though important main character, not as the star (saving that for later sequels). Maybe some adaptation of the whole Cobra as a Terrorist organization infiltrating "Springfield" with the Joes created to oppose them. Stormshadow would similarly be a secondary supporting villain.

I could see sequel(s) having Cobra Island be the new plot for Cobra and introducing Zartan and the Dreadnoks, and starting the whole Storm Shadow/Snake-Eyes/Zartan/Hard Master/Soft Master arc.