Production on the GI Joe sequel, now titled GI Joe 2: Retaliation rather than Cobra Strikes, has now begun, with Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock, posting a picture of himself in character as Roadblock via his Twitter.
Variety also reports that Justified’s Walton Goggins has signed on to join the rest of the cast, much of whom are similarly new to the new series, for the sequel to 2009’s GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
Retaliation, which will be released in 3-D, is to be helmed by Jon M. Chu, whose previous credits include Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and the second and third Step Up instalments. Ostensibly, this sounds like a totally different change of pace for Chu, given his past features. But when you think about it, so much choreography has to go into both dancing and fighting when you film it, so in that respect, his experience could prove useful.
Of the original cast, Channing Tatum, Ray Park, and Lee Byung-hun will be reprising their respective roles as Duke, Snake-Eyes, and Storm Shadow. Joining them will be Johnson as Roadblock, Adrianne Palicki as the female lead Lady Jaye, D.J. Cotrona and RZA as Flint and Blindmaster, Elodie Yung as Jinx, Ray Stevenson as Firefly, Joseph Mazzello as Mouse, and now Walton Goggins as Warden Nigel James. And in a somewhat unexpected move, Bruce Willis is also in talks to join as the original GI Joe, General Joe Colton.
With the writers of Zombieland, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, having penned the script for this sequel, and with the cast shaping up to be pretty interesting, it could definitely be worth checking out when it comes out, with Paramount currently aiming for a 29th June, 2012 release.
This new picture of Johnson as Roadblock is pretty much everything you’d expect. He’s kitted out in his army gear hefting a bit of a menacing weapon, ready to stop anything that comes his way. He also tweeted this great line along with the photo:
“1st day of shooting. 110 degrees. Bring It. #GIJoe”
By my estimation, 110 degrees Fahrenheit works out just north of 40 degrees Celsius, and Johnson’s attitude is just ridiculously awesome. Essentially, throw anything you like at him, Nature, he can do whatever the hell he sets his mind to. I must confess that I’m still yet to see The Rise of Cobra, but I’ll make sure I’ve seen it by the time Retaliation comes out next year, because it’s definitely got me interested. Without further ado, here’s the new picture of Johnson in character. As usual, click to enlarge.
