MTV will be premiering a new clip from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra during the MTV Movie Awards pre-show starting at 7pm ET on Sunday, but you can already watch 45 second of the clip using the player below!
Opening August 7th, the Stephen Sommers-direct big screen adaptation stars Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Byung Hun Lee, Sienna Miller, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park, Said Taghmaoui, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans and Dennis Quaid.
Click here to see Video
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
G.I. Joe International Poster
The new poster for G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra has launched into the interweb, and thanks to Empire who had the exclusive, we've been able to take a look and it is definitely something to see! G.I. Joe is based on the popular soldier action figures being sold since long before most of us were born and pits the good soldiers (G.I. Joe) against the bad guys (Cobra).
The movie stars Channing Tatum as Duke, the leader of the joes, as well as Sienna Miller, Marlon Wayans and Dennis Quaid. The synopsis goes as such: The story is set at Brussels-based GIJOE, an acronym for the Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, and revolves around an international co-ed force of operatives who use high-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil org headed by a Scottish arms dealer
Watch for G.I. Joe and all the leather body suits and explosions to hit theaters everywhere on August 7th. I wonder where I can get myself one of those suits...
Check out Empire news for the full sized poster here.
Source
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
ET with the Stars of 'G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'
It's heroes vs. villains in the all-new, live-action adventure 'G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,' in theaters August 7, and we're with four of the film's stars -- Sienna Miller, Marlon Wayans, Rachel Nichols and Channing Tatum -- who are lucky to be in one piece after filming some of the movie's more spectacular stunts!
"I think the craziest one I did, they strapped me to the front of a Humvee going about 60 miles per hour swerving through the streets of Prague, which is doubling for Paris," says Channing, who plays Duke. "It was good, though -- didn't get hurt, thank God."
Everyone had to get in tip-top shape for their roles, and Marlon, who plays Ripcord, says, "We all worked out really, really hard. … When you're playing a Joe, you've got to be a Joe."
"We did six weeks of fight training, so we did it the healthy way," add Rachel and Sienna.
Based on the beloved Hasbro toys that became a comic book and cartoon sensation in the '80s, 'G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra' stars Dennis Quaid as Hawk, the tough team leader of G.I. Joe, an elite, globetrotting unit that takes on the evil Cobra Organization.
"It's a real fast-paced sort of thrill ride," says Rachel, who plays Shana "Scarlett" O'Hara.
Sienna, who wore a black wig for the movie as The Baroness, confirms, "It was not a dye job. This is an old-fashioned tale of good versus evil, and historically the good guys tend to be blonde, and lighter, and the bad people tend to have black hair, like witches -- it adds to villain-esque behavior. And also, she's a very famous character within the cartoons and there's a specific way that she looks, the same with Scarlett with the red hair, and so we had to be true to the characters the way they were created."
ET surprised the cast with their own action figures from the movie, and Marlon pointed out that when he was a kid, "I didn't have money for G.I. Joes and fancy dolls that could move and articulate all their fingers and limbs. I had money for the 99 cent [version]."
"But now he does [have money], so he's got all of them," says Channing.
"Now you get to be a doll," adds Rachel.
"Holla!" says Marlon with a high five.
Watch ET for more with the stars of 'G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'!
Creators Of Movie-Based Video Games Trying Harder To Snare Gamers
In hopes of saying "hasta la vista, baby" to a poorly received game, the Halcyon Co., which owns the rights to the "Terminator" franchise, allowed the "Terminator Salvation" game developers to work under the same roof as the film crew when creating the apocalyptic third-person shooter based on the flick directed by McG and starring Christian Bale.
"It meant that the game developers, art directors and designers could literally sit in the same production studio as the film guys," said Cos Lazouras, Halcyon Games development vice president. "They worked collaboratively side-by-side. They had access to McG, who was intrinsically involved in the game."
Set two years before the film, the "Terminator Salvation" game serves as a prequel to the film, establishing what John Connor has been up to since "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines." An increasing number of movie games, such as " Watchmen: The End is High," are using characters from their films to tell stories independent of their movie counterparts.
Because the " G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" movie mostly deals with the origins of hooded villain Cobra Commander, the developers of the accompanying arcade-style shoot-'em-up decided to let their game serve as a quasi-sequel instead, recruiting elements from the 45-year history of the toy line and cartoon series to enhance the story line.
"We pick up where the movie ends," said Electronic Arts senior product manager Jason Enos. "We tell a genuine story that's exclusive to the game but ties in key plot points in the film. That also allows us to leverage the larger 'G.I. Joe' universe: characters, vehicles, things you're not going to see in the film but you'll get in the game."
The team behind the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" game want to make one point about their work as sharp as the Marvel superhero's claws: This game is more about the character Wolverine, less about the movie itself. Still, they understand that Hugh Jackman's voice and likeness, and 20th Century Fox's massive movie marketing campaign, will help sell games.
"With a character like Wolverine, without the movies, we'd be solely relying on a hard-core comic audience that understands the character," said Raven Software senior producer Poffenbarger. "The movie actually broadens the appeal. The recognition is there. For us, we like the Wolverine we see in the movies, and the Wolverine in the comics."
Video games based on blockbuster movies typically get panned, yet they shamelessly benefit from the buzz of their film inspirations. The developers of this summer's movie games are more intent than ever on transforming gamers' groans into grins.
"Movie games have a bad history," said Jeff Poffenbarger, senior producer at "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" game developer Raven Software. "There is a stigma to movie games, for a thousand different reasons. They come out and they don't live up to the hype people create. For us, it was all about creating the definitive Wolverine experience, not recreating the movie."
Traditionally, movie games are daunting to develop because they face opening-day deadlines yet take double the time to produce as the films they are based on. Veteran game director Joby Otero, chief creative officer at "Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen" developer Luxoflux Studios, said upgrading the genre's quality has become a primary goal in recent years.
"I think Hollywood is communicating with the games industry on a different level now," said Otero. "There's a recognition that a game's quality can impact the overall franchise. I think part of the reason is that more of the key creative decision makers grew up as gamers themselves. There's an understanding of how wrong these things can go."
Movies have been a source of inspiration for game developers since the early 1980s when the likes of "Ghostbusters" and "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" descended on the Atari 2600.
Heavy Iron Studios executive producer Lyle Hall, who has worked closely with Disney- Pixar over the past seven years to bring such films as "The Incredibles," "WALL-E" and now "Up" into the interactive realm, said that despite the increased focus on creativity, it remains an uphill battle convincing gamers that licensed games aren't just another product.
"I still think they feel like it's the lunch box and the bed sheets," said Hall. "Those things are pressed out of a mold, but other than being on a disc, we are building and offering a creative experience. We're definitely trying to take inspiration from the film, which is built to inspire the audience. We're certainly trying to do the same thing."
Source
"It meant that the game developers, art directors and designers could literally sit in the same production studio as the film guys," said Cos Lazouras, Halcyon Games development vice president. "They worked collaboratively side-by-side. They had access to McG, who was intrinsically involved in the game."
Set two years before the film, the "Terminator Salvation" game serves as a prequel to the film, establishing what John Connor has been up to since "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines." An increasing number of movie games, such as " Watchmen: The End is High," are using characters from their films to tell stories independent of their movie counterparts.
Because the " G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" movie mostly deals with the origins of hooded villain Cobra Commander, the developers of the accompanying arcade-style shoot-'em-up decided to let their game serve as a quasi-sequel instead, recruiting elements from the 45-year history of the toy line and cartoon series to enhance the story line.
"We pick up where the movie ends," said Electronic Arts senior product manager Jason Enos. "We tell a genuine story that's exclusive to the game but ties in key plot points in the film. That also allows us to leverage the larger 'G.I. Joe' universe: characters, vehicles, things you're not going to see in the film but you'll get in the game."
The team behind the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" game want to make one point about their work as sharp as the Marvel superhero's claws: This game is more about the character Wolverine, less about the movie itself. Still, they understand that Hugh Jackman's voice and likeness, and 20th Century Fox's massive movie marketing campaign, will help sell games.
"With a character like Wolverine, without the movies, we'd be solely relying on a hard-core comic audience that understands the character," said Raven Software senior producer Poffenbarger. "The movie actually broadens the appeal. The recognition is there. For us, we like the Wolverine we see in the movies, and the Wolverine in the comics."
Video games based on blockbuster movies typically get panned, yet they shamelessly benefit from the buzz of their film inspirations. The developers of this summer's movie games are more intent than ever on transforming gamers' groans into grins.
"Movie games have a bad history," said Jeff Poffenbarger, senior producer at "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" game developer Raven Software. "There is a stigma to movie games, for a thousand different reasons. They come out and they don't live up to the hype people create. For us, it was all about creating the definitive Wolverine experience, not recreating the movie."
Traditionally, movie games are daunting to develop because they face opening-day deadlines yet take double the time to produce as the films they are based on. Veteran game director Joby Otero, chief creative officer at "Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen" developer Luxoflux Studios, said upgrading the genre's quality has become a primary goal in recent years.
"I think Hollywood is communicating with the games industry on a different level now," said Otero. "There's a recognition that a game's quality can impact the overall franchise. I think part of the reason is that more of the key creative decision makers grew up as gamers themselves. There's an understanding of how wrong these things can go."
Movies have been a source of inspiration for game developers since the early 1980s when the likes of "Ghostbusters" and "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" descended on the Atari 2600.
Heavy Iron Studios executive producer Lyle Hall, who has worked closely with Disney- Pixar over the past seven years to bring such films as "The Incredibles," "WALL-E" and now "Up" into the interactive realm, said that despite the increased focus on creativity, it remains an uphill battle convincing gamers that licensed games aren't just another product.
"I still think they feel like it's the lunch box and the bed sheets," said Hall. "Those things are pressed out of a mold, but other than being on a disc, we are building and offering a creative experience. We're definitely trying to take inspiration from the film, which is built to inspire the audience. We're certainly trying to do the same thing."
Source
Tapping 45 Years of G.I. JOE History
Working on a licensed movie game based on a brand that you grew up with has its pros and cons. On one hand, it’s an incredible honor to be a part of the team responsible for delivering G.I. JOE to modern day gamers of all ages, some with vast knowledge of the brand, and others that have no idea what G.I. JOE is all about. On the other, I’m starting to realize that no matter what you do or how hard you try, you’re never going to please everyone. Knowing this, it was very important for us to include as much content as possible from the last 45 years of G.I. JOE history to appeal to the older fans (like myself), while also trying to be true to the re-launch of G.I. JOE as envisioned by Paramount in the upcoming film, and Hasbro through their new toy line and G.I. Joe Resolute animated series.
From the very beginning, we knew we didn’t want to make G.I. JOE The Rise of Cobra a “play the movie” game; it’s never very fun reliving a movie beat for beat, and there is no element of surprise if you’ve seen the movie and much of what you see in a movie does not translate very well to gameplay (at least not the game we wanted to make). Getting approval from Hasbro to ditch this concept was our first hurdle, but after a few discussions, they quickly got on board with our reasoning, and we were set free to go down a different path of development. The next step for us was to define the look and feel of the game, of which we ultimately took a lot of inspiration from the film since this would be how many new G.I. JOE fans would be introduced to the brand. My initial instinct was to make a game based on the look of the 80’s cartoon series (did I mention that I was a child of the 80’s?), but after some lengthy discussions with Hasbro and knowing that we needed to have a meaningful connection to tie the game to the film, we abandoned this retro style idea and tried to match the film as best we could while still including bits from the past G.I. JOE Universe whenever possible.
If you’ve seen any of the movie trailers or photos from the film, you’ll notice that most of the core G.I. JOE team is wearing black “liquid armor” suits. Unfortunately, this posed a challenge for us – we wanted to be true to the film, but for gameplay reasons, we had to diverge a bit to make the characters more readable and distinguishable from each other on screen, especially in co-op mode. After proving our case to Hasbro with in-game assets, they understood the issue and allowed us to stray a bit from the film for the sake of in-game readability. It was at this point that Hasbro “opened the vault”, granting us access to reference not seen in a very long time. Once they understood what it was that we were trying to do, they were very accommodating in giving us access to the reference we needed, including some of the more obscure reference that we found almost by accident…
First up was the character list – G.I. JOE is all about the team, so giving the player a full roster of awesome playable characters and enemies was absolutely critical. The beauty of this is that over 45 years, Hasbro has created a pretty incredible roster of really cool characters to choose from. The most difficult part was settling on the final 16 playable characters that will ship with the game. Given endless time and budget, we could have done much more, but given the time constraints of being on shelves when the movie is released, I’m quite happy with the final character roster. In addition to the five core G.I. JOE characters from the film (Duke, Scarlett, Heavy Duty, Ripcord, and Snake Eyes), we also included four COBRA bosses (Storm Shadow included) that unlock as playable characters after you’ve defeated them. The rest of the character set is rounded out by some other classic characters, including Kamakura, Shipwreck, and Gung-Ho, among others. There are also about a dozen more supporting non-playable characters that will help keep the story moving along, provide you with support in sticky situations, and give you info on the enemies you’ll encounter along the way. This includes characters like General Hawk, Tunnel Rat, Breaker, and Wild Bill, to name a few.
(Gung-Ho is a team favorite – his primary weapon does knock-back damage, and his cluster grenade special action can devastate several enemies at once.)
Next was the story. We knew we didn’t want to make a “play the movie” game, but we also wanted to maintain some of the main threads from the film into the game for some consistency. Our writer, Brian Reed (an accomplished comic book writer), came up with the idea of pulling the main story plot from a three-part G.I. JOE cartoon mini-series released in the early 80’s. Those of you die-hard fans out there that are very familiar with the cartoons will likely recognize the story as you progress through the game.
Vehicles are also important in the world of G.I. JOE – the game has a number of drivable vehicles, all built for two player co-op (one player drives, the other mans the main turret). Some of the drivable vehicles include the Armored Panther (formerly known as the “Armadillo”) from the toy line, the Cougar from the film, and the Snow Cat, also from the toy line. Enemy vehicles come in all shapes and sizes, including the Mole Pod from the film, the COBRA Gunship from the toy line, and perhaps the most iconic vehicle of all, the classic HISS tank from the cartoon series and toy line. What would a G.I. JOE game be without the inclusion of the H.I.S.S. tank?? As an added bonus, as we were combing through some of the reference sent to us by Hasbro, we stumbled upon blueprints for a modern day version of the H.I.S.S. tank that had never been manufactured as a toy. I’m not sure how long these plans had been sitting around, but once we saw them, we knew we had to add it to the game. So, for the first time ever, you’ll see a vehicle designed by Hasbro that has never seen by the outside world. I have to say, it’s pretty bad-ass!
(The Snow Cat was first released in U.S. toy stores in 1985 and is the G.I. JOE team's most reliable cold-weather assault vehicle.)
(The Cougar is an updated vehicle inspired by the film and has machine guns and a laser cannon that make it dangerous – but the G.I. JOE team knows that its real advantage is its quickness and handling.)
Many collectors of the action figures were pretty nuts about also collecting the file cards from the back of the action figure packaging (our Lead Designer, Dax Berg, was one of these guys). Knowing this, it was important for us to deliver a large volume of filecards as pickups for these fans in game, also satisfying those completionist gamers out there. The file cards include detailed info on each of the characters (G.I. JOE and COBRA), as well as info on the vehicles, play sets, and even some items that don’t appear in the game but will show up in the toy line or film later this summer.
The fast paced and high action nature of the game also worked to our advantage when trying to incorporate some other elements of G.I. JOE’s history. Remember in the cartoon how there was always tons of tracer fire filling the screen that never seemed to hit anyone? Well, we felt it was memorable enough to include in the game, so when enemies go off screen, many of them will continue to fire at you giving the perception of a bigger fight, but none of their bullets will actually connect unless the enemy is on screen when he fires. It may seem minor in print and maybe not even worth mentioning, but it’s one of those little details that was inspired by the history of G.I. JOE and I’m happy we got in the game. We also included a power-up sequence where after defeating a certain number of enemies, the player can earn the ability to trigger the “Accelerator Suit”. This is a suit that the characters wear during one of the film’s big action sequences, allowing them to run faster with an arsenal of weapons strapped to their forearms, including a rocket launcher and chain gun. When the player triggers this sequence in game, the classic G.I. JOE theme song plays and the player becomes all-powerful and near-invincible for a short period of time, allowing him to take out a number of smaller enemies, or defeat a mini-boss with little effort. We had to get that song in there somewhere, and it fits quite well with this particular power-up sequence.
Finally, we managed to add some bonus unlockable content to the game that fans will instantly recognize and hopefully appreciate. Remember the Public Service Announcements that played at the end of the cartoon that taught kids valuable lessons like “don’t light the house on fire”, or “playing with electricity can end badly”? Well, we managed to get four of them in the game as unlockables, so a whole new generation of kids will understand what you mean when you say “now you know!” to them in your best G.I. JOE voice. Keep in mind that these are the original PSA’s – as much as we would have liked, we were not able to include the dubbed over PSA’s in the game for obvious reasons.
(The game includes four classic PSA’s from the 80’s cartoon series. Now you know!)
So there you have it – G.I. JOE The Rise of Cobra is chock-full-o’ JOE-ness from start to finish. We tried to make a game that reaches a new audience inspired by the film and is true to Hasbro’s G.I. JOE brand, while also paying attention to the fans as much as possible. We spent an awful lot of time selecting and building the content that as G.I. JOE fans we wanted to see in a game, and we hope you’re happy with the end result. That’s it for now, but we’ll have more to come soon.
Source
From the very beginning, we knew we didn’t want to make G.I. JOE The Rise of Cobra a “play the movie” game; it’s never very fun reliving a movie beat for beat, and there is no element of surprise if you’ve seen the movie and much of what you see in a movie does not translate very well to gameplay (at least not the game we wanted to make). Getting approval from Hasbro to ditch this concept was our first hurdle, but after a few discussions, they quickly got on board with our reasoning, and we were set free to go down a different path of development. The next step for us was to define the look and feel of the game, of which we ultimately took a lot of inspiration from the film since this would be how many new G.I. JOE fans would be introduced to the brand. My initial instinct was to make a game based on the look of the 80’s cartoon series (did I mention that I was a child of the 80’s?), but after some lengthy discussions with Hasbro and knowing that we needed to have a meaningful connection to tie the game to the film, we abandoned this retro style idea and tried to match the film as best we could while still including bits from the past G.I. JOE Universe whenever possible.
If you’ve seen any of the movie trailers or photos from the film, you’ll notice that most of the core G.I. JOE team is wearing black “liquid armor” suits. Unfortunately, this posed a challenge for us – we wanted to be true to the film, but for gameplay reasons, we had to diverge a bit to make the characters more readable and distinguishable from each other on screen, especially in co-op mode. After proving our case to Hasbro with in-game assets, they understood the issue and allowed us to stray a bit from the film for the sake of in-game readability. It was at this point that Hasbro “opened the vault”, granting us access to reference not seen in a very long time. Once they understood what it was that we were trying to do, they were very accommodating in giving us access to the reference we needed, including some of the more obscure reference that we found almost by accident…
First up was the character list – G.I. JOE is all about the team, so giving the player a full roster of awesome playable characters and enemies was absolutely critical. The beauty of this is that over 45 years, Hasbro has created a pretty incredible roster of really cool characters to choose from. The most difficult part was settling on the final 16 playable characters that will ship with the game. Given endless time and budget, we could have done much more, but given the time constraints of being on shelves when the movie is released, I’m quite happy with the final character roster. In addition to the five core G.I. JOE characters from the film (Duke, Scarlett, Heavy Duty, Ripcord, and Snake Eyes), we also included four COBRA bosses (Storm Shadow included) that unlock as playable characters after you’ve defeated them. The rest of the character set is rounded out by some other classic characters, including Kamakura, Shipwreck, and Gung-Ho, among others. There are also about a dozen more supporting non-playable characters that will help keep the story moving along, provide you with support in sticky situations, and give you info on the enemies you’ll encounter along the way. This includes characters like General Hawk, Tunnel Rat, Breaker, and Wild Bill, to name a few.
(Gung-Ho is a team favorite – his primary weapon does knock-back damage, and his cluster grenade special action can devastate several enemies at once.)
Next was the story. We knew we didn’t want to make a “play the movie” game, but we also wanted to maintain some of the main threads from the film into the game for some consistency. Our writer, Brian Reed (an accomplished comic book writer), came up with the idea of pulling the main story plot from a three-part G.I. JOE cartoon mini-series released in the early 80’s. Those of you die-hard fans out there that are very familiar with the cartoons will likely recognize the story as you progress through the game.
Vehicles are also important in the world of G.I. JOE – the game has a number of drivable vehicles, all built for two player co-op (one player drives, the other mans the main turret). Some of the drivable vehicles include the Armored Panther (formerly known as the “Armadillo”) from the toy line, the Cougar from the film, and the Snow Cat, also from the toy line. Enemy vehicles come in all shapes and sizes, including the Mole Pod from the film, the COBRA Gunship from the toy line, and perhaps the most iconic vehicle of all, the classic HISS tank from the cartoon series and toy line. What would a G.I. JOE game be without the inclusion of the H.I.S.S. tank?? As an added bonus, as we were combing through some of the reference sent to us by Hasbro, we stumbled upon blueprints for a modern day version of the H.I.S.S. tank that had never been manufactured as a toy. I’m not sure how long these plans had been sitting around, but once we saw them, we knew we had to add it to the game. So, for the first time ever, you’ll see a vehicle designed by Hasbro that has never seen by the outside world. I have to say, it’s pretty bad-ass!
(The Snow Cat was first released in U.S. toy stores in 1985 and is the G.I. JOE team's most reliable cold-weather assault vehicle.)
(The Cougar is an updated vehicle inspired by the film and has machine guns and a laser cannon that make it dangerous – but the G.I. JOE team knows that its real advantage is its quickness and handling.)
Many collectors of the action figures were pretty nuts about also collecting the file cards from the back of the action figure packaging (our Lead Designer, Dax Berg, was one of these guys). Knowing this, it was important for us to deliver a large volume of filecards as pickups for these fans in game, also satisfying those completionist gamers out there. The file cards include detailed info on each of the characters (G.I. JOE and COBRA), as well as info on the vehicles, play sets, and even some items that don’t appear in the game but will show up in the toy line or film later this summer.
The fast paced and high action nature of the game also worked to our advantage when trying to incorporate some other elements of G.I. JOE’s history. Remember in the cartoon how there was always tons of tracer fire filling the screen that never seemed to hit anyone? Well, we felt it was memorable enough to include in the game, so when enemies go off screen, many of them will continue to fire at you giving the perception of a bigger fight, but none of their bullets will actually connect unless the enemy is on screen when he fires. It may seem minor in print and maybe not even worth mentioning, but it’s one of those little details that was inspired by the history of G.I. JOE and I’m happy we got in the game. We also included a power-up sequence where after defeating a certain number of enemies, the player can earn the ability to trigger the “Accelerator Suit”. This is a suit that the characters wear during one of the film’s big action sequences, allowing them to run faster with an arsenal of weapons strapped to their forearms, including a rocket launcher and chain gun. When the player triggers this sequence in game, the classic G.I. JOE theme song plays and the player becomes all-powerful and near-invincible for a short period of time, allowing him to take out a number of smaller enemies, or defeat a mini-boss with little effort. We had to get that song in there somewhere, and it fits quite well with this particular power-up sequence.
Finally, we managed to add some bonus unlockable content to the game that fans will instantly recognize and hopefully appreciate. Remember the Public Service Announcements that played at the end of the cartoon that taught kids valuable lessons like “don’t light the house on fire”, or “playing with electricity can end badly”? Well, we managed to get four of them in the game as unlockables, so a whole new generation of kids will understand what you mean when you say “now you know!” to them in your best G.I. JOE voice. Keep in mind that these are the original PSA’s – as much as we would have liked, we were not able to include the dubbed over PSA’s in the game for obvious reasons.
(The game includes four classic PSA’s from the 80’s cartoon series. Now you know!)
So there you have it – G.I. JOE The Rise of Cobra is chock-full-o’ JOE-ness from start to finish. We tried to make a game that reaches a new audience inspired by the film and is true to Hasbro’s G.I. JOE brand, while also paying attention to the fans as much as possible. We spent an awful lot of time selecting and building the content that as G.I. JOE fans we wanted to see in a game, and we hope you’re happy with the end result. That’s it for now, but we’ll have more to come soon.
Source
Monday, May 25, 2009
Sienna Miller’s London Retail Romp
Fitting in a retail excursion over the weekend, Sienna Miller ventured out in the London sunshine with a gal pal on Saturday (May 23).
With Miss Miller wearing a summery floral dress, the pair shopped for presents at ‘austique’ on the trendy Kings Road before continuing about with the day’s errands.
Meanwhile, Sienna recently talked about a possible style change - as she’s thinking about dying her hair brunette after getting a taste of a darker hairdo while filming her upcoming movie “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”.
“I actually loved the dark look. The worst part was going back to blonde afterwards from such a dark colour but it’s back to normal now. I keep thinking though that I might dye it again. It’s fun to have that change,” she tells.
Blockbuster season: Hollywood pulls out the big guns
We've already had Fast & Furious getting petrolheads excited about exceeding the speed limit in disco-coloured cars back in April, while Star Trek, X-Men Origins:Wolverine and Angels & Demons are still raking in the cash. Now, with the school holidays on the horizon, the next few months herald the summer of zero-subtext, from Christian Bale's turn as the Terminator all the way through to August's GI Joe: the Rise of Cobra.
Hollywood's thinking behind plying our screens with entertaining nonsense is quite simple. The world is gripped by recession and depression, but the studio suits still want to plunder the public's purse. How to do that? Give the people some uncomplicated bang for their hard-earned buck.
Turn back the clock 70 years to the Great Depression and the movie business was playing the same role. "Hollywood knew the most precious commodity for the times was escapism and they were in a unique position to deliver it via their best films," says The Huffington Post film critic John Farr. "They served as a tonic for battered souls in dire need of laughter and reassurance."
Hence It Happened One Night (1934), Bringing Up Baby (1938) and a whole host of screwball comedies that allowed fed-up audiences to laugh at the protagonists' shallow absurdities and to forget their own, deeper woes. "If the public had to survive without all the good things that money could buy," explains Farr, "at least they could live vicariously through on-screen characters that did possess them."
So, GI Joe: the Rise of Cobra and JJ Abrams' Star Trek are to the straitened Noughties what It Happened One Night and Bringing Up Baby were to the austere Thirties – but with added lycra and extended fight scenes. What this year's blockbusters share with the Great Depression films is a desire to amuse, albeit with far more CGI and a whole lot less screwball.
Perhaps cinema will be the recession's great survivor. Already, many huge US productions – Gulliver's Travels, Clash of the Titans, Nottingham – are set to shoot in the UK because of the strength of the dollar against the pound, while statistics released by the Film Distributors' Association show cinema attendances up 16% year-on-year for the first quarter of 2009. If cinema owners want to keep the people coming – and there's no World Cup or Olympics to distract this year so the public is there for the taking – they could do worse than latch on to the tactics of the Great Depression. Back then, as extra incentive for the poverty stricken, enterprising cinema folk offered deals or bonus cartoons and B-Movies ahead of the "Featured Attraction".
It's about giving the audience that little bit extra, something they wouldn't get from sitting at home and watching the television with a can of supermarket own-brand lager. Suddenly the explosion of 3-D movies – Bolt, Coraline, Up, Avatar – seems suspiciously well-timed. For two hours, you've got to help the people to forget.
SCREEN SCORCHERS: Ones to watch
TERMINATOR SALVATION (3 June)
With its humans vs machines yarn neatly encapsulating the humans vs bankers struggle, this is a film to reunite a disparate world. Early reviews have been positive, almost rendering Christian Bale's on-set rant a forgotten (sweary) blip.
THE HANGOVER (12 June)
For the five people who didn't consider 'Dude, Where's My Car?' the nadir of cultural civilisation, 'The Hangover' should make your year. All it does is replace the doobies with drink. It stars Heather Graham and Bradley Cooper ('He's Just Not That Into You') in a plot that pivots on a gang of lads retracing their steps in Vegas after a stag party.
THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (12 June)
The 1972 original was psychopathic and sadistic. Thirty seven years on – made for our miserable times – it's slicker, glossier and stars pretty people. Still brutal, sure, but unlikely to be banned or as notorious as Wes Craven's original. A must for horror fans.
LOOKING FOR ERIC (12 June)
Take one dollop of gritty Ken Loach realism, add a happy ending and call it comedy. Once famous for kicking things, Eric Cantona stars as himself, giving life lessons to a depressed Man Utd supporter. It's Premier League meets The Samaritans, but funny.
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (19 June)
There's Optimus Prime, goodie saviour of mankind. There's Megatron, baddie enemy of the Earth. There's The Fallen, he's new. It's massive robot aliens kicking metal lumps out of each other! Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox star. This sequel has twice the budget of the original – which ended up taking over $700m worldwide. Recession? What recession?
YEAR ONE (19 June)
Putting the fun back into Biblical flicks, the Judd Apatow-produced 'Year One' stars Jack Black and 'Juno''s geek par excellence, Michael Cera, as castaways in the ancient world. They're garbed in Fred Flintstone loincloths and meeting up with Cain, Abel, Isaac and Abraham in various farting-in-the-general-direction-of-religion skits.
ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS (1 July)
Ice age? Dinosaurs? Beardy palaeontologists may quibble, but nobody's listening. Those of us who know that squirrels can talk and that Jack Black is a sabre-toothed tiger look forward to another cracking animation packed with clever gags. They say this is the last of the 'Ice Age' series, but if it ain't broke, why scrap it?
PUBLIC ENEMIES (3 July)
Economic meltdown, greedy bankers, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale robbing the rich in full gangster chic? Do the Hollywood fat cats want a revolution? Its FBI vs Mobsters in a cracking Depression-era romp. Ah, the good old days.
BRUNO (10 July)
This will be without doubt the funniest film of the summer. Sacha Baron Cohen plays the flamboyant Austrian fashionista Brüno, heading to America in tight, tight leather shorts and an assortment of silly hats. From footage already seen, it'll be more outrageous than 'Borat'. Prepare to be very entertained.
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE (15 July)
With 'The Order of the Phoenix' enjoying the third highest five-day box office opening of all time, this sixth instalment of the boy wizard blockbuster should once again ring the tills. The usual cast of pupils and teachers returns. And this time it's dark, too.
THE PROPOSAL (24 July)
If only you could buy shares in romantic comedy. Predictable and safe it may be, but we just can't get enough. Due a big hit, Sandra Bullock plays an ice queen exec who forces her assistant to marry her so that she can avoid deportation.
THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 (24 July)
Tony Scott directs a treat of a trio in this remake of the 1978 train-hostage adventure. John Travolta leads the hijackers, coming face to face with Denzel Washington's negotiator, while James Gandolfini is cast as the mayor of New York.
LAND OF THE LOST (31 July)
Will Ferrell takes a break from sports comedies to face beasties and myriad surrealist twists as Dr Rick Marshall, who stumbles into a hidden land to rub shoulders with dinosaurs, giant crabs and massive mosquitoes. Daft hardly covers it.
GI JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA (7 August)
Following the monstrously successful 'Transformers' model of taking a beloved 1980s toy line and sticking it in front of the cameras, Stephen Sommers (of 'The Mummy' fame) has cast Sienna Miller and Dennis Quaid as Action Man-style heroes fighting evil in a lycra-clad world.
THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE (14 August)
What do librarians do all day? They daydream about Eric Bana playing an archivist who suffers from a rare genetic disease. The symptoms? When stressed he travels through time and wakes up naked. The film rights were bought before the book was even written, apparently.
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (21 August)
The Second World War goes high camp as Quentin Tarantino takes a 160-minute look at Jewish-American soldiers offing Nazis, bloodily. Want Gulf War II analogies? Not here. Offering relief from our own very real wars, QT's latest stars Brad Pitt and Mike Myers. Critics were split down the middle in Cannes, but all agreed that it's pretty fun for a war film.
BROKEN EMBRACES (28 August)
Men want her, women want to be her. Penélope Cruz lights up yet another Pedro Almodovar gem about broken families, films-within-films and sexual confusion. You may not understand what's going on, but you'll love it all the same.
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