John M. Chu has spent the last four months, with five more to go, supervising a 3D conversion that supposedly delayed his G.I. JOE: RETALIATION by nine months. Other rumours suggest that poor test screenings meant extensive reshoots, especially in order to add more Channing Tatum. However, he’s also been signed on to direct a reboot of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. Speaking to Celebuzz, he had this to say:
I was approached about doing a MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE movie and while at first I was skeptical. I read the script and I was blown away. I had no idea what to expect but it was such a fresh, unexpected approach I was immediately intrigued. I never expected to connect on a human level to a MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE movie but I really plugged in emotionally. That alone, got me excited to see what we could do with the property. MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE is such a challenging puzzle to make into a movie that works to a contemporary audience but the script seemed to really crack it for me. I think people are really going to be surprised at the rich story we have the opportunity to tell in this world. Where you think MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE goes left, the script goes right and it was just very clear to me this was something very special.
I had all of the MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE toys when I was a lad and would spend every weekend playing with them and constructing complex scenarios. If anyone deserves to direct this film it’s me. But I suppose I’ll give John M. Chu a chance. I personally enjoyed the trailers for G.I. JOE: RETALIATION so I still have faith.
I feel like there’s a lot of room to crack open the MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE story. We are still in our process and I think we have some great seeds planted but making one of these types of movies right takes a lot of tonal tightroping so we’re just going to play for the next several months. Play with designs, play with the characters, try new things, maybe go too far on some things and pull back. The process is really important to find where the right line is so we can land right on it. I think that’s what can dig out the full potential for a cinematic rebirth.
But how does one go about making a film that has already been immortalised in such a profound way? Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella and Courtney Cox starred in the original 1980s classic.
I don’t really think about the 80s movie when looking at this movie because the script here is so strong and so unique. I think the characters are so grounded and layered I never expected that in a Masters movie so to me it’s on a totally different level. Don’t get me wrong, I love the 80s movie for full nostalgic reasons but this script feels like it’s a totally different genre than that one.
Good answer my friend. As long as he keeps the action in Eternia I think we’re gonna be OK.
G.I. JOE: RETALIATION is set for release 29th March 2013. It stars Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum, Ray Park, Adrianne Palicki, and Ray Stevenson.
