After the global box office success of G.I. JOE: RETALIATION ($372 million), Paramount is moving forward with a third chapter in the adaptation of the toy line from Hasbro. While the third film will see the return of RETALIATION director Jon M. Chu, a brand new screenwriter will be tasked with the project.
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN writer Evan Daugherty will work on G.I. JOE 3, taking over from ZOMBIELAND writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Daugherty has also worked on the Michael Bay-ified NINJA TURTLES as well as the Shailene Woodley movie DIVERGENT. There is no word on plot or returning characters despite rumors that the Baroness may come back.
I was not a big fan of G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA and felt marginally better about G.I. JOE: RETALIATION. The insane delay of moving the sequel almost an entire year for 3D post-conversion soured me on the project. There has been little consistency between the films in the franchise which makes it hard to commit to the films. G.I. JOE and TRANSFORMERS were both a big part of my childhood and I feel let down by their big screen incarnations.
G.I. JOE 3 has a chance to improve on the headway started in RETALIATION, but third films rarely instill confidence. Plus, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN doesn’t give me the warm and fuzzies either.