G.I. Joe Release Date: Missing in Action

  First off I want to congratulate Joss Whedon on The Avengers reaching number 3 on the list of highest grossing films for both domestic and worldwide box office. Hopefully this will allow him the freedom on future projects that he deserves much the same way The Dark Knight allowed Christopher Nolan to write his own ticket.

  With that said I want to talk about another movie that I was looking forward to seeing this summer G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation. It was originally set for June 29^th 2012. Unfortunately the G.I. Joe release date got pushed back.

The so-called reasoning was to give time to convert the movie into 3D so they could offer the most commercially viable movie. That’s all well and good but it sounds more like a panic attack if you ask me. Apparently Paramount execs got cold feet with G.I. Joe's release date. The fact that Battleship sunk at the box office domestically (it has only made about $55 million domestically and $235 million internationally which isn’t to shabby) has Paramount scrambling to shore up the Joes chances.

  It’s interesting to note that they brought onboard Jon Chu to direct. His most notable movies were the Step Up 3d movies as well as Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (which I say, “Never!” but I digress). His expertise in 3D was established with these movies and the thought would be that GI Joe would follow suit. Paramount balked at the price tag that John Chu put out if they wanted to do 3D right. So they shot it in 2D instead.

  They should have listened to Jon because G.I. Joe reportedly tested badly in front of test audiences for two reasons. One was the fact of why wasn’t it in 3D (international audiences love 3D despite the apathy of domestic audiences) and another even bigger factor was the lack of Channing Tatum in the movie. This was a big goof and Paramount had no idea how popular Channing would become with the success of The Vow and 21 Jump Street (the movie is hilarious by the way I definitely recommend watching it).

  So in the face of spending millions on promotion and toys already lining the shelves Paramount hits the big red button to slow the gravy train in hopes to avert a disaster. During this time they get to do some extensive reshoots and of course the conversion to 3D. We shall see how this gamble turns out for Paramount. I admit I will still go see G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation (I loved the first film and no I don’t care what anyone thinks) March 29^th although some of my excitement will have dulled from all of the proceedings. Hopefully I’ll be able to yell, “Yo Joe!” instead of “Oh No!”