Adrianne Palicki, who was to play the new Wonder Woman in a TV series before NBC took a pass on the pilot, has now been given the lead female role of Lady Jaye in the upcoming G.I. Joe sequel, G.I. Joe: Cobra Strikes, THR report.
With Wonder Woman looking to be going nowhere at the moment, landing a lead role in Cobra Strikes is definitely good news for Palicki, giving her a chance to play a pretty different heroine as a covert ops specialist.
The film’s sequel is to be directed by Jon M. Chu (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, Step Up 3D) in 3D, and whilst I’m not always the biggest fan of 3D films, an action film like this could definitely make the most of the technology, and Chu’s credits show he’s already got experience with it.
Cobra Strikes is to be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, a producer whose credits include the original G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra, Red, Salt, Constantine, and all three of Michael Bay’s Transformers films. Palicki will be joining Channing Tatum (Duke), Ray Park (Snake-Eyes), and Byung-hun Lee (Storm Shadow), who reprise their roles from G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra, as well as Dwayne Johnson (Roadblock), Elodie Yung (Jinx), rapper-turned-actor RZA (Blind Master) and D.J. Cotrona (Flint), who are also coming on board to join the sequel.
Palicki is perhaps most known for her role in popular TV series, Friday Night Lights, as well as starring alongside Paul Bettany in 2009’s Legion, and she’ll also be seen on the big screen later this year in the Red Dawn remake in the role of Toni Mason, originally played by Jennifer Grey. Now being cast in Cobra Strikes too, it could well be the start of seeing Palicki cast more and more in big-budget films like these. Paramount have already set a release date for the G.I. Joe sequel for 10th August next year, so we can certainly expect production on this project to begin sooner rather than later.
