Two days ago, G.I. Joe: Retaliation director Jon M. Chu posted the above photo on his Twitter and Instagram accounts with the caption: "What ever u do... Do NOT press the button." We can safely assumed that many of Chu's followers have already joked that somebody pushed the button after Paramount decided to change the release date of Retaliation.
On Wednesday, Paramount announced that the film was moving from June 29 to March 29, 2013 release. Paramount's spin on the situation is that the film will go under a lengthy 3D conversion process. In other words, this film could be a total disaster and Paramount wants to find a way to minimize their loss.
Ain't It Cool News presents two interesting hypotheticals about Retaliation: potentially filming more scenes with Channing Tatum and 3D means higher ticket prices.
It's squeaky bum time in Hollywood especially if you're a studio releasing a very expensive action/four quadrant movie. Nobody wants to lose their job or take a financial blood bath. Basically, nobody wants to have another John Carter or another Battleship on their hands. If 3D ticket prices might mean, let's just say, an extra five million dollars to the domestic box office tally, that makes sense. More importantly, if 3D is popular in foreign markets like Asia, then go for it. A film no longer makes a majority of its money from domestic release, it's all foreign box office returns.
Battleship was deemed a failure a few weeks before it's North American release because it failed at the foreign box office. Was the film too 'American' for international audiences? Would 3D have saved the film? Maybe and probably not. While I personally enjoyed certain parts of Battleship, the audience, at large just rejected the film because it was inspired by a board game. There's only so much that an audience can take. Comic books, video games, and theme park rides is where the line has been drawn.
The first two trailers for G.I. Joe: Retaliation presented the film in an extremely positive light. Bright and colorful. Flying ninjas battles. The Rock and Bruce Willis chopping it up, shooting bad guys. In other words, an ideal summer popcorn movie. Additionally, the exact opposite of Stephen Sommers' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Chu's film seems more closer in tone and style to the beloved cartoon series where as Sommers' film had a strong international, James Bond vibe.
Also, the first two trailers for Retaliation did its best to distance themselves from the first film by theoretically killing off Channing Tatum and the Joes from the first film (save for Snake Eyes). I never thought that Tatum's Duke was wiped from the slate....I just naturally assumed that the character would've poped up towards the end of the film and help save the day.
Apparently, I was wrong and perhaps Paramount will find a way to include more Channing Tatum into the final film. Granted, I'm not an scheduling expert, but I'm not sure how that's going to work. Tatum will most likely spend a good part of summer promoting Magic Mike and has two films lined up for the fall: Foxcatcher and White House Down. The Rock is very busy as well; he's doing the new Michael Bay film right now, starting work on Fast & Furious 6 soon and an additional film as well. They will find a way, obviously but it just seems really daunting.
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