There are days when I wonder why I’m not running things in Hollywood, where I genuinely wonder if there’s no common sense left in between the planted palm trees of that palatial paradise. We’ve posted up a few trailers and posters for the impending sequel to G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA titled G.I. JOE: RETALIATION, and for the most part it’s looking good… really good as a matter of fact. Haters of the first film even seem to be looking forward to this one, and Paramount has spent a lot of money already on promotion for the movie, including a costly Super Bowl commercial and countless poster campaigns (all of which simply said “Coming Soon”). The original announced release date was to be June 29, 2012. Not anymore. Deadline is reporting that Paramount is officially moving the movie nine months down the release date line to a new opening weekend of March 29, 2013. And why would they do this? What reason could they possibly give for wasting all their advertising dollars and disappointing excited fans who were genuinely enthusiastic about seeing the sequel this summer? They want to make it 3D. Apparently one executive was quoted to say “We’re going to do a conscientious 3D job because we’ve seen how it can better box office internationally,” and added “Jim Cameron did all of Titanic‘s 3D in post – and look how well that movie turned out.” Let that sink it for a minute. They’re moving it because 3D is hot… overseas. Not here, where the movie was made and is being financed, but overseas. Oh, and it should be noted director Jon Chu originally wanted to make the movie in 3D, but the studio wouldn’t let him. Now they’re post-converting it into 3D at great expense, and recent film history doesn’t make that sound like a great idea. Deadline does note that Paramount had luck delaying films before, when moving Martin Scorsese’s SHUTTER ISLAND to a different weekend, giving the director his biggest box office hit to this day. There is also truth to the fact that international audiences love 3D, and Russia and China are even building new 3D theaters by the week to keep up with audience demands. Why March you ask? THE HUNGER GAMES opened in March and made a crapload of cash, and it’s said execs are using that as further justification of the non-summer switch. The film is said to have cost $125 million, and does have rather big names such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Bruce Willis and Channing Tatum. But seriously, does this move make ANY sense at all? Perhaps the one big factor not being mentioned here is Marvel’s THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN opens the first weekend of July, and considering the overwhelming success THE AVENGERS has had, chances are G.I. JOE 2‘s original release date would have had ended up being slaughtered in the second weekend of release. So there’s that to consider.
G.I. JOE: RETALIATION stars D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Ray Stevenson, Channing Tatum with Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson. Directed by Jon M. Chu, and produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Brian Goldner, from a screenplay by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick based on Hasbro’s G.I. Joe characters.
As for what will fill the gap left by this genius move (sarcasm, though I could be wrong), looks like FAMILY GUY creator Seth MacFarlane’s comedy TED (which stars Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, along with MacFarlane as the voice of a talking teddy bear) will move up from its original July 13 release date to take the June 29 spot. Executives at Universal Pictures apparently saw this as a golden opportunity left open by Paramount. TED needs no extra time for tweaking, it’s done and ready to go, so why not? Is the date change on either end a bad idea in your eyes? Tell us in the comments below.
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
Wonder how much it would have cost Paramount or MGM to have let Jon Chu shoot in 3D, as opposed to bringing everyone back for reshoots and upconverting the footage, as well as doubling the marketing dollars they’ve spent.