New Interview with Producer of Channing Tatum's 'G.I. Joe'

Collider.com just posted an in-depth interview with Lorenzo di Bonaventura, one of the producers for Channing Tatum's upcoming live-action film 'G.I. Joe'. If you want the inside scoop on what's going on with a movie, the producer is definitely the one to talk to. Generally, producers hear all, see all, and know all, so Collider was able to get some really great details about the movie.

Here are some highlights from the interview that I think you all may find interesting:

• The film will be rated PG-13 and will feature bloodless violence, which I'm glad to say makes the movie even accessible for almost all of Chan's fanbase.
  


• The movie's goal is to set up each major character by giving us their back-stories. You will sometimes hear people refer to it as an "origins" storyline, because we will learn a lot about how each of the characters (good or evil) became who they are.
  


• Director Stephen Sommers was chosen because of his enthusiasm, his excitement, his sense of adventure, his embracing of the G.I. Joe mythology, and his understanding of the characters.
  


• Although the film has a little something for everyone, it will really hit home with people who grew up reading the comic book and/or watching the animated show. Although the story is being told is differently, the core values of integrity, honesty, bravery, and courage commonly associated with G.I. Joe will remain consistent. The producer also mentioned that the film even has two "really strong romances", one of which I have read includes Channing's character Duke.
  


• The movie will feature “2 or 3 really big” set pieces and a couple of medium or small sets.
  


• Other than Snake Eyes, each character has multiple outfits in the film. You can CLICK HERE to see an unofficial list of what those outfits may be for Chan's character Duke.
  


• The movie will have a comic book tone and has a big mix of humor, drama, and action.
  


• He confirms the film's move to Prague and the sets there will serve as 2 or 3 locations from around the world, including Paris, France. Almost 100% of the cast will be in Prague, except for Dennis Quaid and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, because they are done filming their parts, which further confirms the Czech reports that Chan will be filming in Prague. di Bonaventura says that filming will officially start with the main actors on May 8, 2008 in Prague.
  


• At the time of the interview, the production was on day 50 and was running on schedule.
  


• The interviewer also confirmed that they were filming originally on a large sound stage in Downey, California. From what I have read, they made stages out of the huge buildings where NASA originally built the space shuttle. The producer said that Paramount was in such a hurry to start filming that they needed an extremely large stage space really quickly. Downey was a perfect fit, because they were able to locate most of the production in one location. You can CLICK HERE to see some photos of Channing from that location.

Prior to 'G.I. Joe', Lorenzo di Bonaventura also produced many other successful big-budget movies like 'The Matrix', 'Oceans 11', 'Harry Potter', and 'Transformers' and amazingly has over 25 other projects in pre and post production and development currently. You can CLICK HERE to read the accomplished producer's entire interview with Collider.com.

Channing Tatum's highly-anticipated film 'G.I. Joe' is set to hit theaters August 7, 2009. You can CLICK HERE to get all of the current international release dates for the film.

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