G.I. Joe 3 A Possibility Once Dwayne Johnson’s Schedule Clears Up

It’s been three years since the release of G.I. Retaliation and things have been mostly quiet in regards to a sequel, but it turns out there may be some life left in the franchise after all.

There have been rumblings that Paramount Pictures is working on creating a shared Hasbro cinematic universe around toy licenses including G.I. Joe, Transformers, Micronauts, Rom, and M.A.S.K. Those rumors seemed to suggest that plans for a third solo G.I. Joe, directed by DJ Caruso and with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson returning as the film’s lead character, Roadblock, had been scrapped. However, Byung-Hun Lee, the actor who plays Storm Shadow, has heard differently.

“I heard from the studio that there’s a possibility to do the third one, but I think they’re waiting for the actors’ schedules,” Lee tells LRM. “They’re arranging the schedules for the actors, especially Dwayne Johnson.”

Lee added that he and Ray Park, who plays rival ninja Snake Eyes, have remained in frequent contact about future projects, G.I. Joe or otherwise.

If Paramount is waiting on Johnson’s schedule to clear, it may be a while before anyone sees a third G.I. Joe movie. Johnson, the world’s highest paid actor, is attached to at least a dozen film projects already. He recently wrapped filming on Fast 8 and went directly to work on Jumanji. In addition to that, fans will soon hear The Rock’s voice in the animated film Moana, and he’s starring in the Baywatch movie. In addition to those films, his future includes a sequel to San Andreas, the lead role in a Doc Savage movie, the video game adaptation Rampage, DC Comics’ Shazam movie, The Janson Directive, a remake of Big Trouble in Little China, two sequels to Journey to the Center of the Earth.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation was both a sequel to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and a soft reboot, but the film didn’t fare any better than its predecessor with critics. However, it performed well enough at the box office ($375.7 million worldwide) for Paramount to be interested in a sequel. Lee, Park, Jonathan Pryce, Arnold Vosloo, and Channing Tatum made up the returning cast from G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. Luke Bracey replaced Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the role of Cobra Commander. Johnson, D.J. Cotrona, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Stevenson, and Bruce Willis filled out the remainder of the cast.

Lee can next be seen in Antoine Fuqua’s remake of The Magnificent Seven, opening in theaters Sept. 23.