Major global toy brand Hasbro has
scored quite big with its big-screen live adaptations of several of its iconic toy
lines. Granted, most of those films are based on “Transformers,” but at least
two have brought a Real American Hero to cinemas with 2009’s “G.I. Joe” and its
2013 sequel “Retaliation.” Both films did well enough in the box office despite
mediocre reviews. Now Paramount and Hasbro’s film arm AllSpark Pictures is
taking a page from the “Transformers” movies by making a “G.I. Joe” spinoff featuring
the franchise’s most popular character Snake Eyes, starring Henry Golding of “Crazy
Rich Asians.”
In the latest development of the “Snake
Eyes” movie according to The Hollywood
Reporter, Paramount Pictures and AllSpark have finally decided on who to
cast opposite the lead Henry Golding, portraying G.I. Joe operative Snake Eyes’
ninja rival Storm Shadow. It is none other than Andrew Koji, star of Cinemax
original series “Warrior.” The movie will be directed by Robert Schentke, who
was behind “Insurgent” (2015) and “Allegiant” (2016), both being sequels of
Lionsgate’s 2014 film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” series. Lorenzo
di Bonaventura serves as producer for a story written by Evan Spiliotopoulos.
Snake Eyes made his debut in
Hasbro’s “G.I. Joe” action figure line in 1982, depicted as a commando with a
full head-covering mask and visor and armed with ninja weapons alongside modern
firearms. He is famous for not speaking on missions, though the reasons for
this varies between retellings, from severe permanent injuries to his vocal
cords from an explosion, to a deliberate choice to remain silent in honor of
his departed ninja sensei. Storm Shadow was introduced in 1984 as Snake Eyes’
rival working for terrorist organization Cobra. The two characters have a
complex history, with Snake Eyes studying martial arts with Storm Shadow’s
family, the Arashikage ninja clan.
Plans to make a “Snake Eyes”
spinoff of the “G.I. Joe” movies were first announced by Paramount back in May
2018, with Robert Schwentke’s involvement confirmed in December of that same
year. Both Henry Golding and Andrew Koji were cast this August, and while this
will be a first for Golding as a pure action role, Koji already has his
experience in “Warrior,” portraying a Chinese martial arts master in 1870s San
Francisco, to prepare him for the role of a ninja like Storm Shadow. He even
shares a Japanese-American family background with the character.
In the previous “G.I. Joe” movies
the roles of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow were portrayed respectively by Scottish
actor Ray Park (Darth Maul in “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace”) and South Korean
star Lee Byung-hun. “Snake Eyes” is due to premiere on March 2020.
0 comments:
Post a Comment