G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Directed by Jon M. Chu
Screenplay by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Channing Tatum, Ray Park, Bruce Willis
Paramount Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 110 Minutes
Release Date: March 28, 2013

Directed by Jon M. Chu (Step Up 3D), G.I. Joe: Retaliation is the sequel to Stephen Sommers’ instantly forgettable 2009 film, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

At the conclusion of that film, Zartan (Arnold Vosloo), having had his physical appearance altered by nanomites, infiltrates the White House and assumes the identity of the President of the United States of America (Jonathan Pryce).

Chu’s sequel begins with Zartan in control of the United States government. The master of make-up and disguise frames the G.I. Joes as traitors and launches an all-out attack on the Joes, wiping out their ranks (including Channing Tatum‘s Sgt. Duke) in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, Storm Shadow (Lee Byung-hun) and Firefly (Ray Stevenson) infiltrate a top-secret subterranean prison to free Cobra Commander. Previously portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the supreme leader of COBRA is played by Australian actor Luke Bracey this time around and voiced by Robert Baker.

Cobra Commander’s plan is simple: eliminate the world’s stockpile of nuclear weapons so COBRA can rule the world unopposed by using Zeus, a sub-orbital weapon of mass destruction that’s twice as powerful as a nuclear bomb.

We’ve heard more rumors and whispers of a new He-Man movie being made than most folks can keep track of over the years. Once upon a time we had what sounded like the best possible direction the movie could be going in with word of an epic fantasy titled Grayskull: Masters of the Universe, which would be presented along the same lines as Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy with a little Batman Begins and The Matrix thrown in for good measure.

Much time has passed since then with new directors and writers and studios coming and going. But now Sony Pictures is ready to give it another go, and they’ve found the director they want to make it happen.

It’s being reported that Jon M. Chu has entered into talks to helm Masters of the Universe.

The first trailer for Paramount/MGM’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the long-mooted sequel to 2009’s, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, has been released today and you can check it out here below.

While The Rise of Cobra didn’t bring in the beaucoup bucks the Transformers franchise has been reaping, that didn’t stop the studio from putting a sequel into production. Stephen Sommers, the director of Rise, was not offered the job of helming Retaliation. Instead the reigns were handed to Jon M. Chu, whose previous credits include…Step Up 2 the Streets, Step Up 3D, and the recent concert movie Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. Zombieland scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick wrote the screenplay.

The first G.I. Joe movie, The Rise of Cobra, was pretty awful. A lot of people seemed to like it for some inexplicable reason, but a guilty pleasure is a guilty pleasure, and that one is getting a sequel.

Interestingly enough, it appears that pretty much everyone who was in Rise of Cobra, won’t be in G.I. Joe 2, which is titled G.I. Joe: Retaliation. The only returning stars will be Channing Tatum, who plays Duke, the fan–favorite, Snake Eyes (played by Ray Park), and Byung-hun Lee, who plays Storm Shadow.

But, if all goes to plan, a massive Hollywood star will be one of the newcomers cast to try and help it survive the loss of talents like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marlon Wayans, Sienna Miller, Dennis Quaid, and Rachel Nichols. It’s being reported that none other than Bruce Willis is in talks for a role, and it’s a fairly significant one at that.