Channing Tatum Declared The Next Big Action Star

It's been a while since I've posted an update on Channing Tatum's live-action movie 'G.I. Joe', so I'm going to try to get everyone caught up on recent happenings with the film.

For starters, above you can see two new cast photos that have been released by the film of crossbow expert Scarlett (Rachel Nichols) and Joe team ninja Snake Eyes (Ray Park).

Channing was recently interviewed by ReelzChannel.com about his newly released film 'Stop-Loss', and they also got a little scoop on 'G.I. Joe'. As a fan of the original '80s animated series, Chan admitted he was a little starstruck when he stood next to Ray Park in his Snake Eyes costume.

"Snake Eyes looks pretty cool in person, I gotta say," he recounted. "He was always my favorite character. To see him standing next to you is just like, 'Whoa!'"

You can click on the image below to watch a video where Channing compares 'Stop-Loss' to 'G.I. Joe' in a recent Access Hollywood interview:


'G.I. Joe' is all about the "Real American Hero" and coincidentally, I recently found an interesting article about the new "geek" trend in action heroes. It seems that the impending retirement of "dashing, swashbuckling heroes who can beat up and out shoot any bad guys who come their way" (i.e. Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger) has left a bit of a void.

The article was saying that the new breed of action star is less like the stereotypical hero of yesteryear and more like Shia LaBeouf in 'Transformers', James McAvoy in 'Wanted', and Emile Hirsch in 'Speed Racer'. Peter Safran, a Hollywood talent manager and producer, was quoted in the article and sees only one up-and-coming young actor who could step into the macho shoes of the 1980's heroes.

Not surprisingly, he feels that Channing Tatum has everything it takes to fill the traditional hero void. "He is a man and he'll be the next big action star," Safran predicts. Also not surprisingly, I could not agree with him more, and we'll soon be seeing Chan play those types of roles in his upcoming films 'Battle in Seattle', 'Fighting', 'Public Enemies' and of course in his lead role as Duke in 'G.I. Joe'.

Thanks to Fabulous Channing Tatum Fan Lainy, you can learn more about the film by reading a recent USA Today article below:

First Look: 'G.I. Joe' Aims to Bridge Eras of Toy, TV Fans
By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY

Say hello to Snake Eyes — just don't expect him to say anything back.

This is the first character reveal from next August's G.I. Joe movie — the mute, faceless, black-clad ninja commando, among the most famous of the good guys from the 1980s incarnation of the decades-old Hasbro toy line.

Just as Paramount breathed new life into the Transformers franchise last summer, the studio is hoping to do the same to this sci-fi soldier series about a team of military experts battling the villainous Cobra organization.

G.I. Joe refers to the team, not any one person, and Snake Eyes is its mysterious lone wolf. In the movie, shooting now and set for August 2009, this fearsome figure is played by Ray Park (Darth Maul in the first Star Wars prequel).

"He's the world's greatest ninja, but he's also next-generation. He's not afraid to use a sword one second, and a split-second later he's pulling out his Glock," says director Stephen Sommers (The Mummy and Van Helsing). "His chief nemesis is arguably the world's other great ninja, Storm Shadow. The two grew up together, were blood brothers and now are mortal enemies."

Channing Tatum (Step Up) plays all-American team leader Duke. Rachel Nichols (Alias) plays the crossbow-wielding Scarlett, Marlon Wayans is paratrooper Ripcord and Dennis Quaid is the commander, Hawk. On the evil-doer side, Sienna Miller plays the raven-haired Baroness, Christopher Eccleston is Destro, the arms dealer who hides behind a silver mask, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock From the Sun, Brick) plays multiple roles, including the Cobra Commander.

Depending on which decade you grew up in, the name G.I. Joe can mean very different things. Hasbro initiated the G.I Joe line as 12-inch dolls in the 1960s, with generic figures representing the U.S. military branches.

The franchise was relaunched in the '80s with smaller action figures, new heroes featured in comic books and a popular after-school cartoon.

Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura also is overseeing this project. He says the appeal then, as now, is broad, across race and even gender. (G.I. Joe was one of the few toys for boys that had female characters.)

"There are quite a few characters in it, and almost certainly a character in which an audience member can see themselves, or want to be," he says.

Sommers stresses that the movie is an origins story, so his challenge is to explain why the bad guy wears a metal mask, why Snake Eyes doesn't talk and other strange things kids took for granted. "For people who know nothing about it, it'll make sense," Sommers says. "And to people who love this stuff, it'll show where they all came from."

Since the above article was released, there have been reports that Brendan Fraser has booked the role of Gung Ho, the Cajun gunnery sergeant, that Kevin J. O'Connor has filmed a cameo, and that an offer has been extended to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson for the role of Hector Delgado (aka Shipwreck).

Finally, IGN recently released an exclusive video that allows you to meet the cast of G.I. Joe. In their words, it's the first of many featurettes exploring the characters as they make the trip from page, toy, or TV to the silver screen -- collecting and comparing the film's various casting choices to their cartoon counterparts. You can CLICK HERE to watch the video or you can check it out below. Enjoy!

Director Stephen Sommer’s big screen live-action adaptation of 'G.I. Joe' is scheduled to release in theaters on August 7, 2009. You can CLICK HERE to get a complete list of all of the world-wide release dates for the movie.

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