I called it last week when I told you about G.I. Joe: Retaliation‘s delay. I said the test audiences complained about more than the lack of 3D. I said they complained about some major flaws in the film. Something I didn’t mention in the article, but if you spoke to me privately, you’d have heard me talk about how my money was on a repeat of the animated G.I. Joe movie from back in the day. People just don’t like it when you kill off Duke in the first reel.
As it turns out, I was right.
Deadline is reporting that the reason for those negative test screenings was the lack of Channing Tatum. It seems that at some point between Rise of Cobra and Retaliation, the actor had a couple of hits in a row and is now an asset, something the filmmakers didn’t count on (possibly because Jon Chu is a huge Joe fanboy and might be listening a little too much the fan forum echo chambers?) when they decided to kill essentially the closest thing G.I. Joe has to a main character.
Here’s hoping they keep the tradition going and fix it the old-school way.
More likely though, expect massive reshoots and a film that the producers wrestle almost completely away from Chu. Poor guy, he was so proud of this movie.
