RED’s Robert Schwentke eyed to direct Snake Eyes movie for Paramount

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

This month’s BUMBLEBEE marks a fresh start for Hasbro at the movies with a soft reboot of the Transformers franchise, and now it looks like Paramount and the company are looking to keep things going by hiring director Robert Schwentke (RED, R.I.P.D.) to helm the new Snake Eyes movie as part of the G.I. Joe series. Schwentke will be working off a script from Evan Spiliotopoulos (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) with reports claiming it will be an origin story focusing on the character’s training as a ninja badass.

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The fan-favorite character was last seen in the previous G.I. Joe movies, the most recent being 2013’s G.I. JOE: RETALIATION, which starred Dwayne Johnson and went on to make over $350 million worldwide. The silent, black-clad ninja warrior was played by Ray Park, and this movie will act as a spinoff that reportedly finds Snake Eyes in his early days as he tries to join the Arashikage Clan, shadowy assassins who are trained to do, you know, ninja stuff…but cooler. No word yet on casting or a production start date, but the movie is reportedly set to arrive on March 27, 2020. 

Over two years ago Hasbro and Paramount, via the Allspark Pictures label, set up a writers room to work on a shared universe based on the line of toys that includes G.I. Joe, Micronauts, Visionaries, M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) and ROM. The team, at the time, included Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Nicole Perlman and more. Not much has come of the universe since then, with another Hasbro/Paramount outing, TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT, not doing so hot, and BUMBLEBEE hitting theaters this month.

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Schwentke had success with the action flick RED back in 2010, which earned an unexpected Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) that year. Since then his movies have had less critical success, including the panned R.I.P.D. and the two recent DIVERGENT movies – INSURGENT and ALLEGIANT. He earned the best reviews of his career this year with the drama THE CAPTAIN, which tells the story of Willi Herold (Max Hubacher), a German man who finds a Nazi captain’s uniform in the final weeks of WWII, only to put it on and begin commanding a band of followers who believe him to be a real high-ranking official.

While Schwentke would not be my first choice to direct this movie (Gareth Evans), I did think RED was fun and with the right material could make an enjoyable, toy-based popcorn flick. His last few blockbuster movies have suffered from weak concepts and scripts, so as long as those elements are solid for a Snake Eyes movie he can focus on giving the movie some style and energy. This is a hot property he's dealing with, so best of luck to him. If all else fails, just write in Dwayne Johnson to pick things up a bit.