G.I. Joe Is Not This Year's 'Speed Racer'

As Roadblock (he was the Joe who talked in rhyme) might say:

"Those box office numbers fill Paramount with glee, I think Phil Gee owes us an apology"

And indeed I do.  Although I was not alone, I was absolutely adamant that G.I.Joe, regardless of the quality of the film, would be the summer's big blockbuster bomb.  Peter has the box office specifics for the weekend in our box office section and it's clear to me at least that given the awful marketing campaign and the bad buzz throughout the year, a weekend hoard of $56 million is a very impressive achievement for the film.  I therefore feel compelled to apologise for my lack of faith.

My only guess as to how the film pulled in such an impressive number is due either to the large number of G.I.Joe fans out there who were going to see it no matter how bad the buzz was (count me in that crowd) or the lack of any other action orientated films this month.

Now I have no idea how much the film will gross from here but I think it's fair to say that a worldwide haul of $200 million is achievable meaning the film will have made back its $170 million budget and then some.  It's hard to say how word of mouth will affect its chances because the word is all over the place.  I had a thoroughly good time with the film and there are plenty of other people who feel the same.  Then again, there are plenty of people who really thought it sucked, and there are even some people who stayed away from the film because the buzz was so bad (or maybe because it wasn't screened for critics).  Will they give the film a chance this coming weekend?

And do we have the beginnings of a series here?  The film has a long way to go before a sequel gets the greenlight but I'd be game for one.  Not because I think they'll pull off an X-Men 2 (ha ha ha, let's all laugh for a second, ha ha ha) but because I want to see Joseph Gordon Levitt & Christopher Eccleston prance around in those ridiculous masks they wear at the end of the film for a full 2 hours.  I want the Crimson twins Tomax & Xamot, Kevin J O'Connor in full Doctor Mindbender garb, Shipwreck and Roadblock joining the Joes, Sgt Slaughter played by himself and Hugo Weaving as Serpentor... 

....And then I want Cobra-La in the third movie because that's the kind of card you pull when you want to go completely off the rails and destroy the franchise.

Here's to the next few years.

Comments

[Peter Georgiou]

This is still going to be a rental for me.