Dwayne Johnson Discusses the Future of The G.I. JOE Film Franchise and I Have Some Ideas of My Own
Earlier this year we learned that Paramount Pictures was going to give the G.I. Joe franchise a fresh start with a revamped look. This new direction they plan on taking the franchise is said to appeal to younger audiences and fans. Anything they do next can't be any worse than the first two movies that were made.
As a long time fan of the G.I. Joe cartoon and toys, I would love to take a crack at helping develop a G.I. Joe film. I just finally want to see a great series of G.I. Joe movies! When talking about the franchise and it's future, Dwayne Johsnson, who played Roadblock in the G.I. Joe: Retaliation told Cinemablend:
"We have talked with Paramount. ... They have a big writers' room with Transformers. With G.I. Joe, too. But the world of G.I. Joe, what's exciting about that is, it's just an opportunity to build out. Now, we've made two G.I. Joes. What they can do is phenomenal, right? When you think about M.A.S.K., and you think about G.I. Joe, and you think about the world that they can build out. I think, if they are interested in bringing Roadblock back, great, let's talk about it. But I wish them the best of luck. I loved working in that movie and the franchise, and if I didn't do it again, I'm great with them, and I wish them the best of luck. But I do hope they build it out really nicely, and I think they can."
We've heard that G.I. Joe could end up being part of a much bigger universe that could involve M.A.S.K. and some of the other Hasbro action figure properties. Personally, I think G.I. Joe has a big enough universe of its own and doesn't need other properties to make it awesome. I feel the same way about M.A.S.K., they don't need to really have any crossovers. They just need to develop the film franchises right!
I previously talked about this saying, "There are so many characters in the franchise and so many stories to tell with them that the studio could develop multiple films that put the focus on different characters. There could be solo adventures and films that center on small G.I. Joe teams as they embark on specific missions, just like they did with the cartoon series and comic books."
I went on to say that the studio doesn't even need a huge budget to make these movies! "All you need is a solid script and story that isn’t ridiculously over the top. These could be badass hardcore military-style films that smartly incorporate certain aspects of the animated series that we enjoyed as kids. There’s a happy medium that needs to be met when making these movies, and the previous films were way off."
For example, if they want to bring Johnson back as Roadblock... awesome! I would love to see an adventure that follows Roadblock, Shipwreck, and Scarlett on a mission to stop Cobra from a planned terrorist attack. There are so many characters to play with! They can mix and match the characters across multiple films! Since it would be a cinematic universe, other characters can come in and out of it whenever they are needed, just like Marvel Studios does with their superhero films.
There's an effective way to handle G.I. Joe as a film franchise. It might even work better as a TV series. I just know what I want out of the franchise. Hopefully, whatever the studio does next with the franchise, they actually do it right this time. We'll just have to wait and see.
What would you like to see from the G.I. Joe franchise?