Lorenzo di Bonaventura, executive producer of both the
G.I. Joe film series and the
Transformers franchise, recently spoke about the former while promoting the upcoming release of the latter's quasi-reboot. On the Joe front, it seems di Bonaventura is willing to acknowledge that neither
G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra or
G.I.Joe: Retaliation, really gave fans the G.I. Joe movie they wanted to see.
"The hardest thing in film, I think, is to reduce something to something simple. You want it to be smart, you want it to have all this complexity, you want to do all these things which sometimes makes it all so confusing. How do you boil something down until you have sort of an essential construct that the audience can connect to, understand, and then we’re allowed to go crazy with it," theorized the Hollywood producer,
while talking to Collider. He continued,
"This time we have a very clear, very defined, tight idea that I wish I had on every sequel I’ve ever worked on. Simple's the hardest to get to."
The conversation continued a bit more on G.I. Joe, with di Bonaventure confirming that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson would be returning for the third entry, however, who else would be accompanying him, is something that's still up in the air. However, he did give a strong hint that the Joes that are fan favorites will definitely be included in the third installment, so expect to see more of Snake Eyes (Ray Park) as well. Talk then turned to the fact that the project doesn't currently have a director of screenwriter attached. This is a somewhat worrying fact, considering cameras are currently planned to start rolling in approximately 6-7 months. Given the uninspired story that unfolded in the first two films, it's probably a good idea to give whoever is going to tackle the plot as much time as possible to crack the code. However, di Bonaventure did state that negotiations are currently under way with an unnamed screenwriter and are close to being finalized. "
We’re just starting [to talk to directors]. We’re negotiating with a writer right now, and once we close that deal—which should be any moment—then we’ll have a story locked down. I’m really excited about it."
What and who do you want to see in the next G.I. Joe film? It seems that Roadblock and Snake Eyes are a given but who else should return- Flint, Lady Jaye, Mouse, or maybe even a resurrection for Channing Tatum's Duke?
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