'G.I. Joe' Spin-Off 'Snake Eyes' Back To Life With 'RED' Director Robert Schwentke

‘G.I. Joe’ Spin-Off ‘Snake Eyes’ Back To Life With ‘RED’ Director Robert Schwentke

TheG.I. Joefranchise at Paramount Pictures has been dormant for over five years, but the studio is looking to revamp it with a more focused spin-off that stars one of the most popular characters from the Hasbro toy line.

As welearned this past spring, Paramount is working on getting aG.I. Joespin-off focusing on the stealthy black ninja commando known asSnake Eyes. Now they have a director lined up, withREDandThe Time Traveler’s WifehelmerRobert Schwentkein early talks to get behind the camera.

Snake Eyes was prominently featured in theG.I. Joefranchise and portrayed byStar Wars: The Phantom Menacebad guy Ray Park, though he never spoke and never revealed his face to stay true to the character’s mythology. He’s one of the most popular characters from the extensive line-up ofG.I. Joecharacters, but he’s not the only ninja in the franchise. There’s also the evil ninja Storm Shadow, who happens to be Snake Eyes' brother, and the two have quite the rivalry.

Though Snake Eyes doesn’t seem like the best character to lead a movie, especially since he doesn’t speak or show his face, the character does have an established romance with the lonely female G.I. Joe member Scarlett. Dog fans will also love him because he has a pet wolf named Timber.

You might not remember much about the lastG.I. Joemovie, butG.I. Joe: Retaliationearned over $375 million globally. Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis helped give the franchise a boost after the first movie,G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobraearned over $302 million at the box office. However, the most memorable aspect of these movies is the action, especially this Snake Eyes scene:

So what does this new focused direction mean for the franchise overall? It appears Paramount is giving theG.I. Joefranchise the same kind of makeover that they are with theTransformersfranchise by focusing on a singular character from the large toy line-up. But again, even though Snake Eyes is popular, it seems like a difficult character to frame an entire movie around unless you change some of his key attributes.

Robert Schwentke seems like a surprising choice for the movie as his last two prominent films were the less-than-thrillingDivergentsequelsInsurgentandAllegiant. However,Varietynotes the critical success of his 2017 movie,The Captain, and he does haveREDin his past as well. Maybe he’s got an interesting direction to take with theG.I. Joefranchise.

TheSnake Eyesmovie is being scripted byEvan Spiliotopoulos(Beauty and the Best, The Huntsman: Winter’s War) andBrian Goldneris producing. There’s no word on when the movie will hit theaters yet, or when production will start, but we’ll keep you posted.