Yo, Joe! It's been announced that CRAZY RICH ASIANS star Henry Golding is in early talks to star as Snake Eyes for Paramount, Skydance, and AllSpark's G.I. Joe spinoff feature. The project is set to be helmed by THE CAPTAIN director Robert Schwentke with Brian Goldner producing. Meanwhile, scripting duties are being handled by Evan Spiliotopoulos, who recently wrote Disney's live-action adaptation of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and helped develop the story for Elizabeth Banks' CHARLIE'S ANGELS reboot.
Made popular by Hasbro's G.I. Joe toyline and animated television series, Snakes Eyes is a silent but deadly ninja who slinks through the shadows in his pitch black armor. Known for never revealing his face, nor ever speaking a word, Snakes Eyes quickly became a fan-favorite character of the G.I. Joe brand and is among the most popular characters of the anti-terrorist organization. He also shares a special connection with Scarlett, who for a time was one of the group's only female members. As a stealth assassin who's never afraid to go it alone, Snake Eyes often embarks on solo missions with his pet wolf, Timber, as his only companion. As a way of adding a familial twist to the character, Hasbro introduced Storm Shadow, a ninja who works for Cobra and is also Snake Eyes' blood brother. Stories involving Snake Eyes often have him squaring off against Storm Shadow, resulting in some of the most sword-tastic family-related spats children of all ages have ever seen.
It's to be understood that the SNAKE EYES spinoff is still in its early planning stages, due in-part to the studios involved wanting to reboot the franchise.
Previously, there have been two films released under the G.I. JOE brand, including G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA (2009) and G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (2013), the latter of which starred Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock, Channing Tatum as Duke, and Bruce Willis as General Joe Colton. It's worth noting that Snake Eyes was featured in both films, as played by Darth Maul actor Ray Park. Unfortunately, neither of the two previous films belonging to the G.I. JOE franchise set the box office on fire, and so plans are to re-tool the property before launching a comeback. To do this, it's been said that Hasbro and the involved parties will field ideas coming from a writers room staffed by a group of intriguing talents.