The first two live-action G.I. Joe movies didn’t exactly light the world on fire, making enough money to keep Paramount above water but not really enough to give the franchise any momentum. 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and 2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation have mostly been forgotten by movie fans, save for the die-hard followers of the popular action figure brand. Paramount is hoping to scale things back a bit and tell a more personal story with its newest venture into the G.I. Joe franchise, focusing on the origins of one of its most beloved characters: Snake Eyes.
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This spinoff will be an origin story about the iconic martial artist from G.I. Joe lore, showing his path toward becoming the masked hero fans have always loved. Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding is playing Snake Eyes in the film, and he headed to Japan this week with the rest of the cast and crew to begin production.
Paramount kicked off the Snake Eyes production on Friday morning with a presentation and press conference featuring the cast, director, producers, and stunt coordinator at the Hie-Jinja Shrine in Tokyo, Japan. Golding and fellow cast members Andrew Koji, Haruka Abe, Iko Uwais, and Takehirp Hira were all in attendance. They were joined by director Robert Schwentke, executive producers Jeff Waxman and Erik Howsam, and stunt coordinator Kenji Tanigaki.
The studio shared a few photos from the press conference, including a look at the cast and crew receiving a blessing at Hie-jinja Shring ahead of the beginning of production.
#SnakeEyes talent receive a blessing at Hie-jinja Shrine ahead of beginning shooting in Tokyo. pic.twitter.com/EshjUFjFkB
— G.I. Joe (@GIJoeMovie) January 10, 2020
Golding takes over as Snake Eyes from actor Ray Park, who portrayed the character in the other two G.I. Joe films. Parks’ iteration of the character never spoke or took off his mask, but Golding’s will likely be much different. Since this Snake Eyes film is focusing on his origin, Golding will probably be featured without his mask for most of the movie, and it would be completely surprising if he didn’t speak at all.
Are you looking forward to the new Snake Eyes movie? Let us know in the comments!
Snake Eyes hits theaters on October 23rd.
