And the ride is officially ready to begin again. SuperHeroHype is reporting that a release date for the G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra motion picture sequel has been announced for August 10, 2012. This is a slight deviation from comments from Brian Goldner, Hasbro CEO, who indicated it would be 2013. Of course, the release date announcement makes sense, given all of the casting news that has been flying around in recent days.
The real questions Joe fans will be asking is “what do we expect”? All we know so far is a script has been written by the two scribes of “Zombieland”, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. We also know that apparently director Jon Chu is getting his blockbuster debut opportunity.
Also, we know that apparently neither Sienna Miller nor Rachel Nichols will be reprising their roles. It sounds like it’s a pretty safe bet that Joseph Gordon-Leavitt will be absent as well. Goldner commented in the aforementioned interview that while Zartan’s story looks likely to continue into the sequel, but beyond that, it’s a clean slate, and I think for a lot of fans, that’s welcome news.
And yes, I know Rachel Nichols has said the only characters returning are Duke, Snake Eyes, and Storm Shadow, but I think fans are looking WAY too deep into that. Trust me, I’m sure we’ll see Cobra Commander, Destro, and plenty more familiar faces, there may just be some casting differences.
Whatever the end result is going to be, information should start coming along any day now, and I welcome it. Whether you loved the first film or not, I know I had a blast bringing the news to the fans, and I fully intend to continue that along with the sequel, regardless of my confidence in its success.