Shuvrajit Das Biswas
The G.I. Joe spinoff movie ‘Snake Eyes’ has found its ninja warrior protagonist. Henry Golding is set to play the titular character, Snake Eyes, in the movie which comes from Paramount in partnership with AllSpark Pictures and Skydance. The script for the movie has been written by Evan Spiliotopoulos, who is best known for working on ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War‘ and ‘Beauty and the Beast‘. Robert Schwentke, famous for ‘The Captain’, is helming the project and Brian Goldner is on board as the producer. ‘Snake Eyes’ is slated to be released on October 16, 2020. Variety first broke the news.
For those unaware, Snake Eyes is a silent ninja commando who is always dressed in black. The character never reveals his face or speaks, having taken a vow of silence. One of the original members of the G.I. Joe team, Snake Eyes can be seen in both the movies of the franchise, that is, ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra’ and ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’. Ray Park plays Snake Eyes in these movies. The character quickly stood out, becoming a fan favorite, which prompted a spinoff. Snake Eyes is part of a military anti-terrorist group where he is quickly established as the most popular member. He seems to have a special relationship with Scarlett, who was the only female member of the team at one point in time. Snake Eyes is known to carry out solo missions sometimes with Timber, his pet wolf. Storm Shadow, a fellow ninja who dresses in white and happens to be Snake Eyes’ blood brother, is also his arch-nemesis.
Snake Eyes first appeared in the 1980s as a part of Hasbro and Marvel’s relaunch of the toy line, which was dubbed ‘G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero’. The upcoming movie is based on the toy line and serves as the third film in the franchise that Paramount has made in the last decade. ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’, which came out before this, stars Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis. It performed rather well, bringing in $350 million worldwide. However, sources say that the studio is looking to do even better with ‘Snake Eyes’ and are trying actively to put a new spin on the series. As a result, they are turning to the writer’s room for fresh ideas. The decision to put a new spin on the franchise comes in the wake of deciding to reboot the ‘Transformers‘ franchise as well, which began with a spinoff based on the popular character, ‘Bumblebee’.
Coming to the star of ‘Snake Eyes’, Henry Golding broke out and grabbed eyeballs with his performance in ‘Crazy Rich Asians‘. Within a short time, he has become an industry favorite and appears in ‘Last Christmas’, the romantic comedy, where he stars with Emma Thompson and Emilia Clarke. He also appears in ‘The Gentlemen’, a Guy Ritchie crime thriller, along with Matthew McConaughey. Most recently, he has appeared in the Lionsgate thriller ‘A Simple Favor’. ‘Snake Eyes’ marks Golding’s first starring role in a studio feature which is a franchise movie.
