Brandon Inada's Blog

Here we have our very first look at team leader Duke (played by actor Channing Tatum) from the upcoming live-action G.I. Joe film being directed by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Van Helsing) and set to be released late summer 2009: 

Not bad I suppose.  It’s a little easier picturing Channing Tatum in the role now that we’ve seen him in full costume.

The character’s look is a bit too X-Men for my tastes.  Also, judging from what we’ve seen of Scarlett (click here to see), it looks as though we won’t be seeing the Joes in their iconic duds either. 

At least they got Snake Eyes right…

On the Cobra side of things, here we have Storm Shadow (Lee Byung-hun) and The Baroness (Sienna Miller):

These two are a bit closer to the look fans of the series are accustomed to, although the Baroness is missing her glasses in the above pic.

And lastly, here’s a shot of Dennis Quaid as General Hawk:

I actually like this one.  The tough guy smirk is a nice touch. 

General Hawk was always a favorite of mine in the old 80s cartoon.

Well, it’s official.

Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, Blade II, and this summer’s Hellboy sequel) will direct the film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the precursor to The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, with Peter Jackson staying on as executive producer this time out.  

New Line Cinema and MGM are co-producing the prequel and it’s follow-up, an as yet untitled film that will serve as a narrative bridge between the events of The Hobbit and the first LOTR film, The Fellowship Of The Ring.

Exciting news!

Actors Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Hugo Weaving (Lord Elrond) have both expressed interest in reprising their roles for The Hobbit. 

I wonder who’ll play the young Bilbo Baggins, as the actor who played the Bilbo in the LOTR, Ian Holm, looks a bit too old for the role. 

(Ian Holm actually played a young Bilbo Baggins in the original LOTR trilogy in a scene showing how the One Ring came into his possession.)

I’m guessing the part will be recast.

Not bad actually. 

Pretty cool pic.  Cool pose.  Crossbow.  Nice, form-fitting costume.

Now that she’s got the red hair, I’m having a much easier time picturing actress Rachel Nichols in the role of Scarlett. 

It’s hard to tell since Nichols is facing off to the side, but the costume she’s wearing seems fairly close to the traditional, iconic look of the popular female Joe character pictured below:

… well, except for the color scheme. 

Admittedly, the orange and purple-ish hues shown in the pic above might not work terribly well, or even at all, in this slightly more realistic, live-action take on the character but having seen a pic of fellow Joe team member Snake Eyes in full costume earlier (Here’s a link.  And another one.), I’m a bit concerned that the Joes might all end up looking vaguely the same.  You know, all dressed in black, X-Men-movie-like costumes.

I suppose we’ll have to wait and see as more pics become available…

You know, I am genuinely excited about this summer’s upcoming Iron Man film. 

Here are a few cool pics I hadn’t seen before on the Yahoo! Movies site (here’s the link):

Love the look and feel of the design work for this movie.  Very slick. 

I can’t wait to see Iron Man go one-on-one with this great big mechanical beastie.

Speaking of which,…

I don’t really consider this a spoiler since a similar shot appears in the latest trailer (you can watch it here) for the film.

I love the way Iron Man looks in the pic above.  If that’s not a practical effect, i.e. an actor in a suit, then I for one am impressed with the CGI work shown in this shot. 

(Sucks for the two trapped in the car…)

See you in line opening day!

Here’s another one:

Looking good so far…

I really hope the look of the rest of the Joes ends up being as faithful to the source material.

To see what I mean, click here to view my earlier post with a sweet pic that shows just how close the movie Snake Eyes’ costume design comes to the actual look of the character.

And really, how sweet would it be if the live-action Cobra Commander ends up looking something like this?