Paramount, Hasbro wonder: Is it time for G.I. Joe to go AWOL?
posted at 2:32 pm on August 21, 2007 by Allahpundit
Send to a Friend |
printer-friendly
They’ve got a movie to make and merchandise to move, and global audiences aren’t in the mood for a hero from the U.S. military. A hero from an American paramilitary organization, though, dedicated to fighting the evil nonexistent scourge of Cobra? That’s a little more palatable. They’re weighing their options as we speak.
There are two competing scripts in development at Paramount. The latest comes from screenwriter Skip Woods, best known for writing the thriller “Swordfish,” the other, from the team of David Elliot and Paul Lovett, who last penned Paramount’s sleeper action hit “Four Brothers,” which Mr. di Bonaventura also produced.
Mr. Elliot and Mr. Lovett’s script is said to be evocative of the less-overtly militaristic version of GI Joe. A person familiar with both scripts describing theirs as “sort of an ‘X-men’ meets ‘Mission: Impossible’ — like GI Joe force.”
Possible compromise solution: Have Joe and company start off in the military, then go renegade and start a covert frag campaign when they object to Chimpy’s Zionazi war for oil. Guaranteed to sell out in Europe and the blue states. Thanks to Weasel Zippers for the link.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
So sad, but you’re right.
And this comes on the heels of just reading recently that boys toys have caught up to the girls in sales, after a long time lagging.
JetBoy on August 21, 2007 at 2:35 PM
What might work is the “US global peacekeepers” on the march in Darfar against the evil janjiwid
The new Humanitarian army . Brought to you by the UN
William Amos on August 21, 2007 at 2:38 PM
Too bad we aren’t back a few years where they made movies for Americans (think WWII). I am so tired of what the rest of the world thinks.
gator70 on August 21, 2007 at 2:39 PM
Stick a Koran in his hand and wait for the positive reviews to pour in from across the Atlantic …
doufree on August 21, 2007 at 2:40 PM
If Larry Hama ain’t involved it’ll probably suck.
They could go the James Bond vs Specter route. As long as it doesn’t devolve into Mega
farceforce.Iblis on August 21, 2007 at 2:43 PM
Why don’t they just start a new line of Jihadi warrior’s, I’m sure they would sell like hotcakes in the M.E…
doriangrey on August 21, 2007 at 2:50 PM
They should focus on the Snake Eyes/Stormshadow angle and nail the ninja loving demographic.
Or, they could have the Crimson Guard be the power behind the Carlyle Group… COBRA, a fully owned subsidiary of BushCo.
rw on August 21, 2007 at 2:51 PM
Blegh. Paramount ruined my childhood. This was such a delightfully violent cartoon, complete with unapologetic Americanism and a Soviet-esqe bad guy in Cobra.
Forgivable is Paramount’s lockstep adherence to Hollywood terrorist protocol (no Muslims), simply because Cobra was far too organized to be constructed by Arabs.
However, distancing themselves from the Joe code “America’s Daring, Highly Trained Special Mission Force,” just sucks. I suppose they won’t be defending human freedom against a “ruthless terrorist organization” either.
For those who are dreaming of better times and happier days, I give you the awesomely awesome intro to GI Joe the movie.
Complete with weaponless Cobra paratroopers and more explosions per second than a Bond flick starring Bruce Willis as 007!
Sigh.
John from OPFOR on August 21, 2007 at 2:51 PM
Too true.
except of course, if they just so happen to be a woman in an Afghanistan, or live near a coastline hit by a tsunami, or are feeling the business end of a genocide in Central Africa.
Other than that no one has much use for an American hero.
billy on August 21, 2007 at 2:55 PM
We need a Jonny Quest movie.
archon2001 on August 21, 2007 at 2:55 PM
Fixed. And by the way, Paramount can go screw themselves for the $150M deal they made yesterday that ensures us another 18 months of high definition disc format war.
World B. Free on August 21, 2007 at 3:01 PM
Why too bad? Hollywood keeps cranking out crap movie after crap movie. I’d appreciate it if they stopped making their crap movies with themes I enjoy (like vampire movies). It’s like they’re trying to slowly choke the life out of me.
Darth Executor on August 21, 2007 at 3:06 PM
I disagree. The america people like American heroes its just hollowwood doesnt like it. The lefties there just hate the idea unless its an american that trashes america to make it a better place.
William Amos on August 21, 2007 at 3:07 PM
We need another classic series destroyed like we need another bubonic plague.
Darth Executor on August 21, 2007 at 3:07 PM
Letter to Hasbro:
I read a blog that pointed me to this article: http://adage.com/article?article_id=119955
My email is a warning. If you want to know what happens when you meddle with an American icon to suit global marketing ideology look no further than Superman Returns. The purposeful changes to Superman, the red and blue of his uniform changed from the traditional hues that match the American flag, as well as not having a single American flag in the entire movie, met with sharp criticism. Superman Returns failed to turn a profit on domestic sales alone. Contrast that against the Spiderman series which is overtly American and has featured a large American flags in all of its advertising easily turning a profit domestically. GI Joe is not a big enough icon to translate into large worldwide audiences anyway. So changing GI Joe to fit global audiences will hurt the bread and butter domestic market resulting in lower worldwides ticket sales, exactly what you do not want.
What your advertisers may not know is: What makes American pop culture cool around the world? The world emulates what we think is cool not what advertisers think, they think is cool. It does not work that way. What aspect of American pop culture that is not popular here is hugely popular worldwide? It isn’t. We Americans legitimize what is cool in our own culture and that it what sells overseas.
Theworldisnotenough on August 21, 2007 at 3:20 PM
Well they also killed Captain America in the comic books
Im sure The Imam kid will take his place
William Amos on August 21, 2007 at 3:26 PM
How about a movie on the draft dodger living in Canada that converts to Islam.
Kini on August 21, 2007 at 3:28 PM
Hey, I liked this idea the first time when it was called The A Team.
I’d love to see how you get away with calling a character ‘Hadji’ in a movie in today’s climate.
James on August 21, 2007 at 3:29 PM
GI Joe is probably made in China anyway. Bound to be bad for your health.
LakeRuins on August 21, 2007 at 3:31 PM
It won’t be long before GI Joe will be morphed into refusnik Lt. Ehren Watada, sporting a Palestinian “peace scarf”.
eeyore on August 21, 2007 at 3:37 PM
I have too many fond memories of my youth playing with G.I. Joe to see it screwed up. I’d rather they shelve it for another 10 years than make a sanitized version of it now.
Nail. Head.
Seriously though, anyone worth their G.I. Joe salt knows that Snake Eyes is the equivalent of Wolverine. Snake Eyes is the franchise.
natesnake on August 21, 2007 at 3:40 PM
Make him part of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” program and the domestic MSM reviews will likewise be stellar.
rivlax on August 21, 2007 at 3:40 PM
Snake Eyes and StormShadow deserve their own movie anyway.
Iblis on August 21, 2007 at 3:40 PM
At the risk of being a complete dork, the best G.I. Joe graphic novel evahhh was when Snake Eyes rescued his gal from Storm Shadow’s lair. It was about 60 pages long and did not include a single word of dialogue.
natesnake on August 21, 2007 at 3:44 PM
“best known for writing the thriller “Swordfish” isn’t the greatest recommendation I have read. But then again we did get to see Halle Berry in the nuddy. But it was disappointing. Oh dear.
In the UK, GI Joe is sold as “Action Man”, or rather the 12″ version of GI Joe is sold as Action Man. When I was young, Action Man was definitely a British soldier, with British camo gear, British military equipment, enormous bendy FN SLR rifle, Carl Gustav recoilless rifle, Ferret armoured scout car, Wasp helicopter etc. He had short hair and no genitals, because of course tough guys reproduce by splitting in half, just like Chuck Norris.
Since the late 1980s Action Man has become a roving world troubleshooter with no connection to any military of any kind. His main baddy is a vaguely Genghis Khan-looking American wrestler type.
There was a 3″ version of GI Joe sold in the UK during the 1980s as “Action Force”. It was the same fantasy/sci-fi GI Joe as the GI Joe of “GI Joe: The Movie”. Although GI Joe: The Movie was never shown in the UK, at least not in cinemas.
All of which reinforces the genius of George Lucas, and Japanese toy designers; if you’re going to have guns, and baddies, make the baddies robots, or robot-men, and make the guns laser zap guns.
Apeking on August 21, 2007 at 3:49 PM
No, being a complete dork would mean that you knew it was just issue 21 of the regular comic.
Still the best Joe comic of all time.
http://www.yojoe.com/comics/joe/joe21.shtml
Iblis on August 21, 2007 at 3:51 PM
GIJoe was about as violent as the A-Team. How many times did you have to see pilots ejecting before missiles hit their planes?
The real violence was on Robotech. Jump ahead about 5:45 to watch the whole planet get blasted from orbit.
rw on August 21, 2007 at 3:58 PM
Indeed. I still have it packed away with the other comics in a refrigerator box full of the figures and vehicles. One day the whole lot (except the comics) will go to my son.
natesnake on August 21, 2007 at 4:00 PM
I think its time for conservatives let alone those who want to make money leave hollywood, start a new movie company somewhere else and produce GOOD movies without the liberal BS
Defector01 on August 21, 2007 at 4:19 PM
The violence of Robotech is still tame in comparison to the original Macross, Mospeada, Southern Cross series and the Macross DYRL movie. For the absolute, everybody dies violence I can’t find anything to surpass IDEON.
allie on August 21, 2007 at 4:25 PM
FACT: Hasbro’s G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary Triva Game was conceived and produced by a political conservative…
and I just got the high score!
Pass around the link to the game–it’s awesome!
ScottMcC on August 21, 2007 at 4:28 PM
that should read lefty movie critics aren’t in the mood for a hero from the U.S. military.
clghitis on August 21, 2007 at 4:51 PM
You know, with the Bourne series going anti-US and news like this, it has me thinking.
When was the last time you saw a fictional movie that made the American government look like the good guys?
I can’t think of anything recent at all.
PBoilermaker on August 21, 2007 at 5:05 PM
Absolutely,
Hadji, by the way is an Indian name.. I see no problem there..
Although the whiny islamofascists would no doubt cry foul
Viper1 on August 21, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Memo to screenwriters:
Hey geniuses, the appeal of the “overtly militaristic version of GI Joe” is the “overtly militaristic version of GI Joe.”
Of course, I’m not holding my breath. They’ll make some excuse about selling to “global audiences” like they did when they altered the Superman tagline.
Exit question: How long before Hezbollah and Hamas action figures hit the market?
CP on August 21, 2007 at 5:14 PM
Hehe. I heard DC is in talks to get a Wonder Woman movie made. Except, of course, without the American flag outfit, the American military alter-ego, etc. - basically everything that made Wonder Woman popular in the first place.
Hollywood’s sure fire plan:
STEP 1. Take a classic American icon;
STEP 2. Remove everything about it that is American and/or iconic;
STEP 3. Spend $50 million in blatantly fraudulent advertising to get as many suckers as possible into the theaters expecting to see their beloved American icons; and
STEP 4. Make sequels that are even WORSE than the first movie until you’ve finally sucked the franchise dry and run it into the ground once and for all.
logis on August 21, 2007 at 5:36 PM
Actually, being a complete dork is having all the action figures, the entire comic book series, and every TV episode on tape.
And being ticked off that they even tried to make Duke Scarlett’s main man in the series.
And in # 21, I always figured that Snake was determined to get Scarlett out for two reasons; (1) to save her, and (2) to save his clan-brother Storm Shadow from her.
cheers
eon
eon on August 21, 2007 at 6:29 PM
Hmmm… actualy I think AMERICAN audiences are ready for an American military hero… its Hollywood and New Yawk who don’t want to see it…
Just like when they PURPOSEFULLY destroyed Starship Troopers, because it was “pro” war…. I mean come on… no powered Armor??????? PC combat troops??? Really wish someone would redo it agian, correctly. And we now have the effects to do it right too….
Romeo13 on August 21, 2007 at 6:31 PM
I’ll stick to my A-Team DVDs.
aengus on August 21, 2007 at 7:50 PM
Will he convert to Islam and take arms against the US?
drjohn on August 21, 2007 at 7:57 PM
Hollywood wonders why most of their movies are tanking. Our family no longer goes to theatres and we are very selective about any new releases we acquire for our massive DVD collection. Most of it is movies from the days when the film makers actually made good entertaining movies. We have had it with their agenda and this slap at one of the favorite toys of my childhood will continue to make us vote with our wallets.
KC-135A on August 21, 2007 at 8:02 PM
Han shot first, dammit!
Dork B. on August 21, 2007 at 8:21 PM
Make G I Joe homosexual, or a woman, preferrably black or latino, or better yet, a homosexual latino woman, and he is back to being popular again.
jihadwatcher on August 21, 2007 at 11:54 PM
They could call it “Not G.I. Not Joe, The Not Movie.”
Or they could make up their own damned anti-heroes (or anti-climactic heroes) and stop ruining other people’s work.
Merovign on August 22, 2007 at 12:19 AM
I smell a marketing campaign.
Call ‘em G.I.hadi Joe(s).
soundingboard on August 22, 2007 at 2:32 AM
This was never in dispute. I just said they’d never get away with it with so many people out there who never let facts interfere with their emotions.
James on August 22, 2007 at 7:30 AM
But wasn’t one of the heroes from this summer’s successful “Transformers” movie a Special Forces officer and his team?
Frozen Tex on August 22, 2007 at 8:40 AM
Paramount and Hasbro are jealous that G.I. Joe can not gain the market share that Hanson’s Muppets or those puppets in the movie that revived the “Thunderbird” characters in their latest parody of overcoming evil the world over.
Maybe if they were able to take the G.I. Joe doll; put a beard on him, dress him in a frock, and strap an explosive vest, and several phrases of islamist hatred that you would hear by pulling his string. The deal maker would be the vest exploding randomly as the child pulled the string to hear the next triad.
MSGTAS on August 22, 2007 at 10:19 AM
While I expected them to do a movie that’s about the franchise heroes made popular during the 1980s, I certainly didn’t expect them to do something that veers away from actually fighting terrorism. Has Hasbro been taken over by anti-warrists? I hope not, but for now, I think it’d be a good idea for anyone who finds this news dismaying to protest. And I’ve got an idea for how to show your loyalty to the Joes: if you know how to run a M.A.M.E program, go and download Komani’s video game from 1992! Go to CoolRom.Com and first get the M.A.M.E component, then go to this page, and when the download button generates on the screen, you can click it to start downloading the game. And if you’d like to see what the game looks like, just take a look at this Youtube video. As you’ll see, the game proudly features the Real American Hero logo as well as boldly featuring words like “terrorism”, “invasion” and “devastation” for the villains, and “bravery”, “righteousness” and “freedom” for the heroes.
Take my advice, go and download that video game now to show solidarity with what G.I Joe should be: A Real American Hero!
Avi Green on August 22, 2007 at 11:24 AM
MXC already has a Jihad Joe character.
Iblis on August 22, 2007 at 11:42 AM
I know TWO who are AWOL.
MITT AND RUDY.
seejanemom on August 22, 2007 at 2:26 PM
Oh. Nevermind.
soundingboard on August 22, 2007 at 3:00 PM