Paramount’s origin story/reboot/spin-off film ‘G.I. Joe – Snake Eyes’ has Henry Golding in talks to play the titular character. The studio is pivoting to ‘Snake Eyes’ before moving forward (again) with a third mainline ‘G.I. Joe’ film.
Golding broke out with his acting debut in the smash hit ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’ from director Jon M. Chu. He was also in Paul Feig’s ‘A Simple Favor,’ and will star in Feig’s next film ‘Last Christmas,’ releasing November 8th. In 2020, he will star in Guy Ritchie’s ‘The Gentlemen,’ releasing January 24th.
Moreover, some plot details for the film are below:
“When we meet this new, younger Snake Eyes, it’ll be as a street fighter in Peru. Driven by the desire to avenge the death of his father, Snake Eyes is apparently a man on the move until he ends up in Japan, where he and his best friend, Tommy, aka Storm Shadow, will begin their training with the Arashikage Clan. The film will see at least three of the clan’s legendary masters as they train Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow as Hard Master, Soft Master and Blind Master are all set to appear. Also present at the Arashikage compound is the film’s female lead, Akita. In comic continuity, Junko Akita was an apprentice and lover of Storm Shadow; here she is the head of security and will be a love interest for Snake Eyes.”
The role of Snake Eyes needed to be recast, due to the fact that the original actor, Ray Park, is too old to be playing a younger version of the character.
Robert Schwentke (‘RED,’ ‘Insurgent’) serves as director, while the screenplay is from Evan Spiliotopoulos (‘Beauty and The Beast, Death Note 2’).
Spiliotopoulos previously gave a comment regarding the classic action-martial arts tone of the film:
“Our vision is if it was a Hong Kong movie of the ’70s directed by Akira Kurosawa. I wish I could get into story but that’s the idea of going back to a rough-and-tumble, you know, Bruce Lee movie but directed by one of the greatest Japanese filmmakers of all-time.”
Additionally, cinematographer Bojan Bazelli (‘Pete’s Dragon,’ ‘A Cure for Wellness’) is onboard.
Further, filming will begin October 15th and wrap December 9th. Filming locations include Japan, the major setting of the film, and Vancouver, Canada.
Paramount will release the film on October 16, 2020.