It's coming out for real this time, right? One of the big shockers from last year was the sudden yanking of G.I. Joe: Retaliation off of Paramount's schedule, knocking it from June all the way down to March 2013. The reason given was to allow time for a 3D post-conversion, but rumors began to emerge that the real reason was to fix a major gripe from test audiences. Namely, the lack of presence by red-hot Channing Tatum was a big problem, and reshoots were ordered to rectify that. The worst kept secret around was that Tatum, one of the few to return from 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, gets sent to the great toybox in the sky early on.
During an interview with CraveOnline, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said that the reshoots had nothing to do with adding more of Tatum to the story...
di Bonaventura: “No, it’s not. That is a complete rumor. I don’t know where that started. Literally, Channing shot for - if I have it wrong, I’m off by an hour - four hours, five hours? So it wasn’t really about that at all.”
Not sure I buy it. On its face, there's little sense in killing off the most popular actor of a franchise trying to gain a foothold in a crowded market. Paramount aren't stupid. They've seen the numbers Tatum pulled in last year, and will want their piece of the action.
Meanwhile, the marketing for the film is in full swing again, and an awesome 40-second Japanese trailer just hit the web. It's basically non-stop adrenaline showcasing Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Lee Byung-hun, and Adrianne Palicki, but no Tatum.
Directed by Jon Chu, G.I. Joe: Retaliation finally hits on March 29th. [CBM]
