Producer Lorenzo Bonaventura may leave Paramount over GI Joe 2's direction

[Timstuff]

Uh oh, looks like more bad news for the GI Joe franchise. Apparently, fans were not the only ones who were furious over John Chu being selected as the director of the next installment.

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Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura Eyeing Options as Paramount Relationship Frays (Exclusive)

After eight years at Paramount, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is said to be exploring options elsewhere due to clashes with studio president Adam Goodman.

Among many sources of friction, according to sources, is the studio's handling of the next installment of G. I. Joe., set for release in August 2012. Di Bonaventura, one of Hollywood's top producers, is said to have objected when Paramount insisted on installing Jon M. Chu (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never), who lacks action experience, as director.
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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/producer-lorenzo-di-bonaventura-eyeing-173569

So for whatever reason, it sounds like John Chu's selection as director was a foregone conclusion at the corporate level. More serious candidates like F. Gary Gray were probably the ones that Bonaventura was pushing for, but Paramount decided to veto him because Chu was "their guy" after the Justin Bieber movie made them some money. It's ridiculous, but props to Bonaventura for being ready to leave Paramount with his pride in tact.

Maybe with a little luck his departure starts a chain reaction that completely de-rails the project, or Paramount realises what a bunch of A-holes they're being and decides to let him do his job as a producer instead of trying to turn GI Joe into a dance movie with no characters except Channing Tatum. Whatever the case, if GI Joe 2 as it currently exists makes it to release next year, I can all but guarantee you it will be the last GI Joe movie we see for a looooooooooong time. At least if it gets stalled in pre-production hell forever the chances of a reboot in a few years is more likely.

 

[UltimateJustin]

They must be cashing out, having no faith in this franchise and just wanting to put something cheap out while the iron is warm. Reboot the hell out of this, there's never even been a GI Joe movie so just ignore that robo-suit movie from '09.

Even though GI Joe is a property that could have been as huge in film as TF, I don't know if that can ever happen now.. but if it's this or nothing, hopefully we get nothing.

 

[Mace Dolex]

Speaking from my nergasm love of G.I.Joe if the studio and director want to tarnish the Joe brand into some Power Ranger techno crap then I hope a sequel never gets made.

For a real Joe movie I suggest taking a page from the Chuck Norris flick The Delta Force which was practically a Joe movie in disguise.

 

[Timstuff]

Far more promising projects have been killed in pre-production hell, so I think it's quite possible that scheduling delays and lack of concise vision kept this movie from actually making it out the door. It would be much better for everyone if rather than putting out an inferior sequel to the first film, Paramount simply waited another few years and rebooted. The GI Joe franchise can make a lot of money, but a bad sequel to Rise of Cobra would seriously hurt the value of the brand. If I were Hasbro I would be pushing Paramount hard to abandon the current direction they're taking the franchise in.

 

[cronosred]

Honestly, I can't see a G.I. Joe movie ever making as much as a Transformer movie no matter how good it is, Transformers brought something new to the audience (giant transforming robots) what can G.I. Joe bring that hasn't already been done?. I think in order for them to make big money they would need someone like Nolan, Cameron, or sigh! Bay to direct it.

 

[Bug-Eyed Earl]

You mean the same LDB who didn't want Peter Cullen in Transformers?

Or this LDB:
http://www.ramascreen.com/author-kills-ice-man-because-he-hates-channing-tatum

Or the same Lorenzo who didn't seem to know a lot about Transformers 3(he described Shockwave as "morphing" into the snake-drill machine in the trailer in an article that shows them in the same shot as clearly separate).

LDB always seems like a producer who attaches himself to properties just to get in on a cash cow rather than because they mean something to him; put it another way, the ratio of "One for me, one for them" projects is more like "One for me, Ten for them."

 

[jaganar]

like i said in the TF thread,
we have a GI JOE MOVIE (6 of em) in the TRANSFORMERS FRANCHISE which lets face it IS
TF vs JOE .

i hate the fact that baroness is a flatchested PoS actress and will never forgive that bastardization.

if they are going to TWILIGHT the Joe Franchise we are all doomed. its fair to say PARAMOUNT CANT MAKE A DECENT DECISION anymore.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Lorenzo di Bonaventura on G.I. Joe 2
"The ninja fans are going to love it"

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[mr. peasant]

You mean the same LDB who didn't want Peter Cullen in Transformers?

Or this LDB:
http://www.ramascreen.com/author-kills-ice-man-because-he-hates-channing-tatum

Or the same Lorenzo who didn't seem to know a lot about Transformers 3(he described Shockwave as "morphing" into the snake-drill machine in the trailer in an article that shows them in the same shot as clearly separate).

LDB always seems like a producer who attaches himself to properties just to get in on a cash cow rather than because they mean something to him; put it another way, the ratio of "One for me, one for them" projects is more like "One for me, Ten for them."

Say what you may about LDB's emotional/personal attachment to his movies (he's in the business for money, after all) but he at least strikes me as the type who thinks it's better to spend the money and hit what the movie sets out to achieve as best as it can, rather than go on the cheap and be satisfied with mediocre results. Regardless of one's personal opinion with regards to Rise of Cobra's faithfulness to the larger franchise, the movie certainly delivered a bombastic and cheesy action movie that was in line with when we played with our action figures.

 

[sweetre15]

Lorenzo di Bonaventura on G.I. Joe 2
"The ninja fans are going to love it"

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Talk about changing one's tune huh? lol

 

[Bug-Eyed Earl]

Talk about changing one's tune huh? lol

I like Timsuff, but I think he pulled a bit of a spiderfreddie with the OP of this thread- jumping on a story he wanted to believe was true. From what I know of Lorenzo, it probably was him who got Chu the job.

I want to stop and make a point- what we have now is a director who has a stated passion for the material, a pretty cool cast (at least I can't find too many faults with the new actors) of more popular Joes, Joe Colton himself

In the last movie, we had the actors laughing off the movie- how many times did you cringe when reading an interview with Quaid, Levitt, and Miller when they talked about the movie? We knew we were getting some serious divergences from Joe lore almost from the beginning (to me, insisting on giving Cobra COmmander a name and the backstory he had along with showing his face constantly shows this was not made by people who care about GI Joe.)

I think people would be more excited about this movie if Chu actually had a single action credit to reassure us. Right now, this movie has one mark against it- the unproven director. But for me, Sommers was also a mark against the last movie as well and all the little things along with it left me with a Joe movie I almost passed on and forgot within hours of leaving the cinema.

 

[sweetre15]

I like Timsuff, but I think he pulled a bit of a spiderfreddie with the OP of this thread- jumping on a story he wanted to believe was true. From what I know of Lorenzo, it probably was him who got Chu the job.

I want to stop and make a point- what we have now is a director who has a stated passion for the material, a pretty cool cast (at least I can't find too many faults with the new actors) of more popular Joes, Joe Colton himself

In the last movie, we had the actors laughing off the movie- how many times did you cringe when reading an interview with Quaid, Levitt, and Miller when they talked about the movie? We knew we were getting some serious divergences from Joe lore almost from the beginning (to me, insisting on giving Cobra COmmander a name and the backstory he had along with showing his face constantly shows this was not made by people who care about GI Joe.)

I think people would be more excited about this movie if Chu actually had a single action credit to reassure us. Right now, this movie has one mark against it- the unproven director. But for me, Sommers was also a mark against the last movie as well and all the little things along with it left me with a Joe movie I almost passed on and forgot within hours of leaving the cinema.

Interesting points but I think some people forget that since he does dance films he likely has a good understanding of choreography so adapting to making good fights usually wouldn't be difficult.

Here's a fight scene from Kevin Tancharoen who directed the Fame remake, lots of music videos and an upcoming Glee movie despite me not liking this particular take on the character's represented in this short(Thank god the webseries spawned from this was truer to the source but that's another story) the fight was entertaining: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wal25lLzDt8

 

[TheVileOne]

So ****ing what? He understands dance choreography so he will be able to make big impressive action scenes! LOL!

I'm sorry but that argument doesn't fly to me.

 

[Brian Braddock]

Reboot the hell out of it and call it 'Action-Force' to ensure that there's no '09 stigma. (to anyone who doesnt know, 'Action-Force' was what G.I.Joe was called over here in the U.K.).

 

[sweetre15]

So ****ing what? He understands dance choreography so he will be able to make big impressive action scenes! LOL!

I'm sorry but that argument doesn't fly to me.

Since most are criticizing that hasnt done action in this thread I'm just pointing out that working with dance choreography helps with action films because if you understand that much you should be able to understand choreography altogether as a whole and that would include action scenes. Plus the script has been written by good writers so all he needs to do is be able to portray it screen properly....just saying

 

[mr. peasant]

Since most are criticizing that hasnt done action in this thread I'm just pointing out that working with dance choreography helps with action films because if you understand that much you should be able to understand choreography altogether as a whole and that would include action scenes. Plus the script has been written by good writers so all he needs to do is be able to portray it screen properly....just saying

Correction: Having experience with dance choreography helps with choreographing martial arts sequences. However, for a movie like G.I. Joe, the action sequences (should) involve pyrotechnics, vehicular stuntwork (e.g. collisions), etc which Chu has no experience with (as far as I'm aware of). As such, he may not know all his options, which ones would work best and/or how to best shoot it. As such, it would be more comforting if he at least had some assisting credits in the genre. My only hope is that he at least had some exposure to the theory behind said techniques through his formal education.

 

[sweetre15]

Correction: Having experience with dance choreography helps with choreographing martial arts sequences. However, for a movie like G.I. Joe, the action sequences (should) involve pyrotechnics, vehicular stuntwork (e.g. collisions), etc which Chu has no experience with (as far as I'm
aware of). As such, he may not know all his options, which ones would work best and/or how to
best shoot it. As such, it would be more comforting if he at least had some assisting credits in the
genre. My only hope is that he at least had some exposure to the theory behind said techniques
through his formal education.

If he can't then hopefully they bring in good 2nd unit directors that

 

[sweetre15]

Correction: Having experience with dance choreography helps with choreographing martial arts sequences. However, for a movie like G.I. Joe, the action sequences (should) involve pyrotechnics, vehicular stuntwork (e.g. collisions), etc which Chu has no experience with (as far as I'm
aware of). As such, he may not know all his options, which ones would work best and/or how to
best shoot it. As such, it would be more comforting if he at least had some assisting credits in the
genre. My only hope is that he at least had some exposure to the theory behind said techniques
through his formal education.

If he can't then hopefully they bring in good 2nd unit directors that can help with those aspects.

 

[TheVileOne]

I've seen his Step Up movies and they are pretty horrendous. I'm not sure why you guys are so quick to defend Chu and his body of work like we should give him a chance.

James freaking Cameron wasn't a choreographer before he did the Terminator movies.

Also Rob Marshall I believe got his start in choreography and his Pirates movie was really off and clumsily made. So . . . w'ever.

 

[sweetre15]

I've seen his Step Up movies and they are pretty horrendous. I'm not sure why you guys are so quick to defend Chu and his body of work like we should give him a chance.

James freaking Cameron wasn't a choreographer before he did the Terminator movies.

Also Rob Marshall I believe got his start in choreography and his
Pirates movie was really off and clumsily made. So . . . w'ever.

- Yeah but James Cameron made crap like Piranha 2 at that time

- Every director has to start somewhere and not every director is going to start off with an impressive filmography but assume that because a director has been attached to some bad or commercially gimmick films doesn't mean that every film they make will be like those films especially since
I have yet to see a critically acclaimed breakdance film for storytelling EVER regardless.

- I'm not "defending" him per se but I still dont think it's fair to tear this film down so early just because he's attached to it especially since he has never written any of those films and just directed them.

 

[UltimateJustin]

- Yeah but James Cameron made crap like Piranha 2 at that time

- Every director has to start somewhere and not every director is going to start off with an impressive filmography but assume that because a director has been attached to some bad or commercially gimmick films doesn't mean that every film they make will be like those films especially since
I have yet to see a critically acclaimed breakdance film for storytelling EVER regardless.

- I'm not "defending" him per se but I still dont think it's fair to tear this film down so early just because he's attached to it especially since he has never written any of those films and just directed them.

I'd say having not directed Van Helsing makes Chu, and everyone else, a more talented director than Steven Sommers.

 

[TheVileOne]

Oh please. What a joke. I'm sorry but saying he can choreograph ridiculous dance scenes is not a good defense for saying he can direct complex and compelling action scenes.

 

[UltimateJustin]

Oh please. What a joke. I'm sorry but saying he can choreograph ridiculous dance scenes is not a good defense for saying he can direct complex and compelling action scenes.

What's the difference? Both take vision and the ability to build many small, intricate details into a satisfying overall "event". The action can't be worse than that in 'Rise of Cobra', since nothing is, so it's all ready an improvement over the last film. That's something to be happy about.

 

[cronosred]

At this point I just hope Chu takes all the criticism and pushes himself hard to make a solid movie and show everyone that he was the right man for the job. IMO he can't do much worse then Bay did with Transformers. It's too bad the G.I. Joe audience isn't as forgiving with their directors as the Transformer ones are with theirs.

 

[cronosred]

I'd say having not directed Van Helsing makes Chu, and everyone else, a more talented director than Steven Sommers.

At least Sommers made me want to see a sequel, it's more then Bay did.