The flamboyantly-named Lorenzo di Bonaventura, producer of toy-based G.I. JOE movies THE RISE OF COBRA and RETALIATION, has confirmed that a third instalment will go ahead in early 2015. The franchise didn’t exactly bolt out the gate with RISE, written and directed by THE MUMMY’s Stephen Sommers. Amongst its baffling array of elements was a rushed ending and Christopher Eccleston battling a Scottish accent. The sequel was more like a reboot, helmed by Jon M.Chu, that introduced Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson into the mix. That did better at the box office and now plans are underway to make a Johnson-heavy entry. Bonaventura explained that he is:
…trying to get going, starting early next year… I think it’ll be a little later than (January). I think February or March is probably more realistic… We’re just starting (to talk to directors). We’re negotiating with a writer right now, and once we close that deal — which should be any moment — then we’ll have a story locked down. I’m really excited about it.
While it’s clear there’s still a lot of work to do before the flame-proof cameras start rolling, Bonaventura isn’t short of confidence in his star and the character he plays, the perhaps ironically-named Roadblock:
It’s sort of an open possibility right now who could be in it outside of Dwayne, he has to be in it… The last movie was really the set up, in a way, for Roadblock to take over. Dwayne came aboard a little late last time so we weren’t able to do everything I think we can do this time, and really get a story that services what the audience expects out of him, and also as an actor pushes him into areas that you wouldn’t normally explore in a big franchise movie perhaps.
So what type of story and areas are we talking about here?
How do you boil something down until you have sort of an essential construct that the audience can connect to, understand, and then we’re allowed to go crazy with it? This time we have a very clear, very defined, tight idea that I wish I had on every sequel I’ve ever worked on. Simple’s the hardest to get to.
Something tells me that with enough bullets, rippling muscles, tightly-costumed actresses and explosions, they’ll reach their destination just fine.
Source: Collider
