When asked by ScreenCrush if the "G.I. Joe" franchise was in trouble following the decent, if not quite exceptional $375 million worldwide take for "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" (only about $70 million more than its predecessor), producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura was candid: "I think the studio was very unsure about it. Look, you always wonder until they say yes, really," he said. Well, it looks like they’re saying yes.
With a 2016 date now eyed by Paramount, Variety reports that Jonathan Lemkin ("Shooter," "The Devil’s Advocate") has been tasked to write the script. He presumably takes over for Evan Daughtery ("Snow White And The Huntsman") who was hired last fall, and we’d wager this screenplay will be the bait to snag a new director, as John Chu is not expected to return. That said, di Bonaventura is promising big, big things.
"I honestly believe we have one of the best ideas we have ever come across for a sequel. Because—I don’t want to spoil it, that’s for sure—but we found a way to be able to articulate the movie in one or two sentences," he explained. "Which means it’s going to have a very strong backbone and that backbone is very emotional. So, it allows us to make it the most character-based movie of the group. And I think one of the hardest things I think in cinema is to reduce ideas to their simplest form—because that means they’re their most significant. And I think it means that the audience will be able to connect to it in a way that’s very profound and I’m really looking forward to it, I have to say."
Meanwhile, over at Disney, Deadline reports that things are moving ahead for a sequel to "Enchanted." The 2007 hit musical was a favorite of critics and audiences, and even got some Oscar nominations too, so it’s a surprise it’s taken this long for a followup to get going. Anne Fletcher ("The Guilt Trip," "27 Dresses") will direct with J. David Stem and David N. Weiss—of "The Smurfs" and "Shrek 2" fame—writing a new draft of the script. It’s not clear if this movie is being written with Amy Adams in mind to return, so we’ll have to see how it all plays out.