It has been a roller-coaster ride. Various script ideas, cast changes, crew changes, director changes, delays, contingencies and many more. But finally, finally a 3rd G.I. Joe live action movie is being made and the filming starts today.
Directed by Robert Schwentke, G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes principal photography is set to take place from mid-October to early-December in Vancouver, Canada. Starring popular heartthrob Henry Golding as the titular character, the story for this new movie is written by Evan Spiliotopoulos with Bruce Lee films in mind.
The plot is rumored to be as follows (Warning: Possible Spoilers):
“When we meet this new, younger Snake Eyes, it’ll be as a street fighter in Peru. Driven by the desire to avenge the death of his father, Snake Eyes is apparently a man on the move until he ends up in Japan, where he and his best friend, Tommy, aka Storm Shadow, will begin their training with the Arashikage Clan. The film will see at least 3 of the clan’s legendary masters as they train Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow as Hard Master, Soft Master and Blind Master are all set to appear. Also present at the Arashikage compound is the film’s female lead, Akita. In comic continuity, Junko Akita was an apprentice and lover of Storm Shadow; here she is the head of security and will be a love interest for Snake Eyes.”
“Of course if it’s a GI Joe movie, Cobra must somehow be present and in this instance their presence is made manifest in what appears to be a character created for the film: Kenta. Kenta is revealed to Storm Shadow’s brother who has long since left his family, the Arashikage, and joined with a rival ninja clan, the Kurayami. It is Kenta who attempts to lure Snake Eyes away from the Arashikage and into a terrorist plot being devised by Cobra. We won’t delve too deeply into spoiler territory here, but we can see what side of things Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow will take and this film certainly seems to set the stage for one of the great comic book rivalries.”
Joining hands with Mr. Golding are Andrew Koji (Storm Shadow), Iko Uwais (Hard Master), Ursula Corbero (The Baroness), Samara Weaving (Scarlett), Takehiro Hira (Kenta?), and Haruka Abe (Junko Akita?).
Hasbro, Skydance and MGM will co-produce the movie, along with Paramount Pictures and Grackle Bird Productions.
As stated above, filming of G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes (under the working title ‘Grackle Bird’) will take place from October 15th to December 6th for an October 16th, 2020 release.