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G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?

Simon Brew


As Paramount decides to not screen G.I. Joe for UK critics, suspicions arise that a box office flop is on the horizon...

Published on Aug 5, 2009

Ahead of its release in the UK and US at the end of this week, Paramount seems to be doing its utmost to put together some kind of damage limitation exercise for the final tentpole blockbuster of the summer, G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra.

Depending on which rumour you choose to believe, the production of the film has not been the easiest, and reports of test screenings have hardly been ragingly positive either. With Paramount now deciding not to screen the film for critics in the US, the knives are being unsheathed pretty much as you read this.

We've got our fair share of high hopes for the film, with our own Duncan, in particular, penning his thoughts of what he wants from the film right here. But the holding back a film from the critics tactic still rarely seems to work. Given that Paramount has invested a hefty chunk of change on the film, it's clearly banking on its strategy at least giving it an opening weekend. But it does seem to be a sign that it's all but written the film off. It instantly classes the film next to the likes of The Avengers in the minds of many, and that's not a good place to be.

Two things are strange about Paramount's decision, though. Firstly, director Stephen Sommers has apparently said that the sequel has already been greenlit, and is set to move into production next summer. Were we gamblers, we would not put a lot of money on that happening just yet.

But secondly, Paramount's US review blanket appears not to be a universal policy. It's screened for certain critics here in the UK, and the reviews that have been coming through, while hardly raves, are nothing Michael Bay would be ashamed of. The general consensus appears to be that G.I. Joe is a pretty decent, if hardly earth-shattering flick.

So why is Paramount being so coy? We're unsure, but it'll be interesting to see just what kind of box office numbers the film rustles up over the weekend. You suspect Paramount would happily take $30m off your hands right now...

For now, check out a collection of TV spots from the film right below...

 
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GI Joe | Box Office | Simon Brew

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Users Comments

Re: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?
Posted By Discrespective 1 August 5, 2009 11:50:37 AM

Ah yeah the way I hear it, G.I Joe is one screaming faggot of movie ! It couldn't get more gayer if it started to wear it's own balls for earings ! Cool ? So yeah man if you go see this further proof that there is no god, piece of fucking shit of movie, guys don't hold out for much, I'm not ... :-(

Re: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?
Posted By mugwump 1 August 5, 2009 01:14:53 PM

I heard there's a bit in this movie where an underwater base gets crushed by sinking blocks of ice...lol. Obviously everyone involved was too pigshit stupid to realise that ice FLOATS! Seriously, if that kind of continuity era can pass unnoticed in a $50 million (at least) production then it deserves to tank. Not everyone is stupid enough to swallow that crap.

Re: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?
Posted By mugwump 1 August 5, 2009 01:15:44 PM

era = error ;)

Re: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?
Posted By mugwump 1 August 5, 2009 01:16:12 PM

era = error

Re: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?
Posted By benheck 1 August 5, 2009 02:13:30 PM

I've wanted to see this all summer for the "train wreck" spectacle, and am disappointed it's getting good (geek site) reviews thus far. I really can't guess how it'll do at the box office, but having finally seen Dead Rising, bringing the number of good Sommers movies I've seen to TWO, here's hoping it's at least fun.

Re: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?
Posted By DavidFullam 1 August 5, 2009 04:59:30 PM

Although I'm sure it's going to be a dog of a film, I also expect it to do huge business at the Box Office. You need to understand we Americans, the vast majority of us love complete and total garbage. I'm not going to see this film, but I'm the odd man out. I march to my own beat and have never been into mainstream tastes. For every one of me, you get 100,000 or more who turn off their brains and go for the low brow.

Re: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?
Posted By savage2003 1 August 5, 2009 05:20:51 PM

I'm still going to see this just for Ray Park

Re: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?
Posted By badfox1 1 August 5, 2009 09:53:59 PM

What part of this trailer have we not seen / heard before? Yawn.

Re: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?
Posted By DamonD 1 August 6, 2009 09:40:33 AM

It's going to be very interesting to see how this does at the box office. I've always been lukewarm (at best) about this, I was never into GI Joe, but they're trying to pitch it as a popcorn picture and we'll see how many bite after Transformers 2 scooped up all that cash. I think they're hoping to repeat the trick. Or they could end up falling into the Matrix Reloaded > Revolutions box office pit.

Re: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?
Posted By SPARTANNYC 1 August 6, 2009 12:30:50 PM

I still have and own very rare gi-joe figure from back in the day i grew up on gi-joe and transformers i did'nt even bother with 2nd one.The first one was good entertainment i have been waiting for a gi-joe movie since i read about in the early 90's that they had ideas now in 2009 i dont think i will pay ten bucks in the theater to see i will wait for the dvd the trailer was intresting the first time but after i read how they changed characters around i thought damn this is going to suck.I agree about the costumes whats so hard about letting the actors use the original uniforms i hope one day that hollywood would just try for our sake to stick to the original characters and stories and stop changing shit around to make money.I did'nt mind wolverine was not perfect but it was more watchable than x-men 3.

Re: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?
Posted By Vinnydoz007 1 August 6, 2009 05:05:34 PM

I was excited about this movie for maybe 10 minutes when i first heard the idea. Then I realized there was a 99% chance it would be awful. Ive never heard a high profile high budget movie like this get such a negative response so long before it was released. This one is destined to failure. Accelerator suits?...come onn. Truth be told, i feel like a realism approach as opposed to this completely over the top silly approach would have worked better.

Re: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra heading for box office meltdown?
Posted By daevouk 1 August 8, 2009 02:25:04 PM

Sommers should go back to the end of Deep Rising and shoot a sequel. If ever there was a movie that deserves more adulation it is that one.
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