In Hollywood, it is not how good or bad your movie actually is, it is how much it manages to take in at the box office. Case in point- G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra. The movie didn’t receive to many enthusiastic reviews, it currently has a 40% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. But it still managed to pull in approximately $100 million at the worldwide box office this past weekend. And that good a weekend can only mean one thing in Hollywood- How soon can work start on a sequel?
In the case of G.I. Joe, the answer is soon, according to Paramount Studios vice-chairman Rob Moore in an LA Times article on this past weekend’s box office results. Moore also confirmed that while the lead actors are signed under option to return for a second film, while director Steven Sommers is not.
While I actually liked the final film a bit more than I liked the screenplay, I still felt that the movie wasted a lot of potential and seemed a little too self-conscious that it was the first film in a potential franchise. Rather than telling a good story on its own, it was more concerned with setting things up for future installments. Hopefully, Paramount will take a good, honest look at the film and its problems and make a concerted effort to improve the things that need improving. But then again, this is Hollywood, where some splashy CG action sequences will always trump a bad script, cheesy production design and hamfisted direction, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we wind up just getting more of the same.
And is anyone surprised by this news?