Over the last few years Hasbro has moved from toy manufacturer to big Hollywood player after a slew of projects reached screens based on their products but thus far it has been somewhat of a mixed bag. Biggest, of course, is Transformers which continues to go from the strength to strength at the global box office – .779billion grossed thus far – and the next installment, The Last Knight, is due in cinemas this summer.
G.I. Joe is perhaps the company’s next big franchise and it’s perhaps no surprise that news from The Los Angeles Times suggests that the film version of the series is set for a reboot, as is the Hollywood norm these days. The first film, released in 2009 under the helm of Stephen Sommers (The Mummy) and starring Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, grossed just over $300million.
The sequel, G.I. Retaliation, saw Tatum return briefly in a “soft-reboot” and featured Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis, actually grossed more than the original with $375million worldwide but didn’t fare too well with critics.
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Now, with “universes” being set up across many franchises, could the same happen with G.I. Joe? Hasbro’s Simon Waters, who is the company’s global brand licensing chief, told the LA Times that they are changing the films to the changing world around us, saying:
“The world has changed, and I think you’re going to see G.I. Joe changing with it. There’s going to be a much more contemporary approach to the whole franchise, and that will allow us to develop different characters.”
Steve Davis, Hasbro’s chief content officer, continued:
“We hope to create a head snap. It’s a different kind of ‘Joe’ – one that still resonates with ‘Joe’ fans but brings in an uninitiated audience and expands the audience internationally and domestically.”
Would you like to see a new G.I. Joe reboot? Or has the series jumped the shark a little now? Let us know what you think of the news below.
