While promoting his successful new movie ‘Bullet Train‘, martial artist and actor Andrew Koji (Storm Shadow) is constantly bombarded with questions about the commercial and critical failure of Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins movie.
Being a gentleman, Mr. Koji’s response is quite mature in contrast to the same type of questions thrown at Christopher Eccleston (Destro, G.I. Joe: Rise Of Cobra)…
“I’m starting to see the balance between the business side and the art side. That was the thing with Snake Eyes, we were kind of going, “Who’s making the decisions here? What film are we making? Are we making a film for the fans? Because if it’s for the fans, surely we should do this and this and that.” I think sometimes some of the producers, they’re not making decisions that are based on integrity or the character’s integrity or the story integrity. They’re making it based just on money. It’s turned this industry and this whole streaming thing into this cog machine. I think maybe the films we grew up with were a bit more special. I’m sure there was still a bunch of trash there at the time. I’m sure. But I think it still feels a bit out of whack.”
When asked whether what he took as experience while working for Snake Eyes movie…
“What I hear is that it’s important to get on your feature-film thing as soon as possible. As soon as you get the thing, you do that because then you’re on some sort of list or you’ve got some pre-studio deal or something like that. So that was part of it. I did actually like Robert [Schwentke], the director. He’s definitely more of an actor’s director than a franchise or IP one. And I guess it did lead to Bullet Train, which then also led to the film I did with John Malkovich [Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes]. And then, I got the independent film I did after that.”
Mr. Koji also spoke of the constant conflict he had with the G.I. Joe Origins movie…
“Now, I’m a lot more relaxed. I see that doesn’t necessarily help. I’m definitely trying to enjoy the ride a bit more. But at the same time, as I’m speaking this out loud, I’ve been making notes about this and thinking about that. You don’t want to become too complacent. I remember that for Snake Eyes. Because of the script and a lot of the things going on, I was not sleeping. I was going, “How do I make this work, because this is awful? How am I going to do this?” So it’s that weird balance that I’m trying to figure out between ease and efficiency. I haven’t got the answer.”
And finally, he was asked whether he’d return to the G.I. Joe Franchise…
“I have no idea, man. We’ll see,” the actor tells us. “Someone might have to take that mantle over at some point.”
To the audience of the movie, Andrew Koji is arguably the best part of it. We wish him the best for all of his upcoming projects.
SilverOptimus says
News Post: Andrew Koji Speaks About Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins Movie Failure
JoeArashikage says
GI Joe: Origins 2: Storm Shadow
GI Joe: Origins 3: Scarlett
GI Joe: Origins 4: Stalker
GI Joe: Origins 5: Shipwreck
GI Joe: Origins 6: Sgt Slaughter
Not gonna lie, I'd show up for this franchise.
sbartek1974 says
LISTEN TO THE FANS
THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO SPEND THEIR MONEY ON
turner says
LISTEN TO THE FANS
THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO SPEND THEIR MONEY ON
shadowsun says
LISTEN TO THE FANS
THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO SPEND THEIR MONEY ON
Guardians of the Galaxy movies have been hugely successful. More people know that property now than have ever read any of the comic books. The only character with even a passing resemblance to the source material is Rocket Raccoon. But it doesn't matter, because the movie was good enough with enough reach to make more new fans than the decades of source comics did. Listening to Guardians comics fans wouldn't have improved on that.
They don't need to listen to fans, they just need to make good product. The two things are not intrinsically tied as much as fans want to believe
sbartek1974 says
Guardians of the Galaxy movies have been hugely successful. More people know that property now than have ever read any of the comic books. The only character with even a passing resemblance to the source material is Rocket Raccoon. But it doesn't matter, because the movie was good enough with enough reach to make more new fans than the decades of source comics did. Listening to Guardians comics fans wouldn't have improved on that.
They don't need to listen to fans, they just need to make good product. The two things are not intrinsically tied as much as fans want to believe
DarkLordMordred says
The first step is hiring writers who know the property.
AWOL says
:-)
:-(
Fred Broca says
So the issue isn't about giving the fans what they want because truth be told if di Bonaventura were going to give a film adaption of Last Laugh or The M.A.S.S. Device that shit would still be trash because (like me with calaclus,) he simply doesn't "get," G.I. JOE and doesn't understand that G.I. JOE isn't about an individual but it's about the team and the motivations of COBRA Commander. At the end of the day Hasbro needs to cash di Bonaventura out, thank him for his efforts, and find somebody to head the G.I. JOE live action ship.
Agent of Dohma says
Keep reading: Andrew Koji Speaks About Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins Movie Failure - Page 2
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