Will Paramounts New G.I. Joe Reboot Roll A Snake Eyes?
It is telling that both trailers for Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins were released alongside featurettes which essentially explained the moments and arcs laid out in the straight-up theatrical previews. Either its an attempt to get ahead of the Snake Eyes trailer... explained! blog posts or there really is a concern that audiences need to have the pretty clear-cut concepts of this reboot explained in detail. Henry Golding exclaiming that the relationship between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow is probably one of the greatest relationships ever created is a hell of a boast, but I havent read the original Larry Hama comics so maybe hes not bluffing. As for the movie, its the third attempt to create a new franchise out of the G.I. Joe universe. As you recall, Stephen Summers (underrated then and now) G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was withheld from critics prior to release, with Paramount implicitly selling the film as a blockbuster for non-snobby Americans (ie - not the critics) even while emphasizing its international fighting force hook to overseas audiences. It kinda-sorta worked, with a $54 million opening weekend in early August of 2009 and a $150 million domestic/$302 million worldwide cume on a too-high $175 million budget. Jon M. Chu added Dwayne Johnson and killed off Channing Tatum just in time to see Tatum (who had tried and failed to become a star for years after the first Step Up) break out in The Vow, 21 Jump Street and Magic Mike in the first half of 2012. Paramount delayed the summer 2012 release to Easter of 2013, added in a couple of non-action scenes for Tatum along with a 3-D conversion. Again, it kinda-sorta worked. The slightly more grounded G.I. Joe: Retaliation grossed $122.5 million domestic from a $51 million Thurs-Mon Easter debut but $375 million worldwide on a $130 million budget. A theoretical G.I. Joe 3 has been in development ever since, with D.J. Caruso attached to direct what was/could be G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant. Ironically, D.J. Caruso already helmed perhaps the greatest G.I. Joe movie ever made, namely Vin Diesels xXx: Return of Xander Cage. It earned $45 million domestic and stumbled in most of the world, but grossed $164 million in China for a good-enough $385 million cume on an $85 million budget. It was indeed a rare case of a big Hollywood flick truly being saved by China. Snake Eyes poster Paramount  Caruso is also attached to the fourth xXx if it ever gets made. We cant expect automatically any such miracles here, especially not with China increasingly being dominated by their own local blockbusters. On paper, this looks like a classic nobody wanted this origin story for a character who is much cooler after the origin. Will this be another example of diversity being a bad-faith alibi for an unrequested IP revival, leaving Henry Golding and Andrew Koji out to dry when audiences say Yeah, we didnt like the other two G.I. Joe movies? Yes, Snake Eyes is arguably the most popular G.I. Joe character around, but weve already seen him in two big movies, with both Scarlett and Baroness getting the spotlight in Rise of Cobra. The odds are not in its favor, even with Hotel Transylvania: Transformania ditching the July 23 release date. That leaves only Snake Eyes and M. Night Shyamalans Old as the biggies in that late-July frame, right between Space Jam: A New Legacy on July 16 and Jungle Cruise on July 30. Irony alert: xXx: Return of Xander Cage got crushed on its domestic opening weekend in January 2019 by... M. Night Shyamalans Split. Can G.I. Place your bets...