With a fall star approaching, and cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson and Isla Fisher all set to return, it looks like 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' director Jon M. Chu will be taking over the reigns of 'Now You See Me 2' from Louis Leterrier.
Well that didn't take long -- 'Jem and the Holograms' has announced the four young actresses that will play the leading roles of Jem and her Hologram bandmates in the upcoming adaptation of the hit '80s cartoon, directed by 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' helmer Jon M. Chu. And although Chu and the production team previously mentioned that casting was open to anyone -- even unknowns -- the four stars are all established young actresses.
Of all the potential movie directors Jon M. Chu and producer Jason Blum could collaborate on, a live-action update on 'Jem and the Holograms' is literally the last thing we would have expected. The director of 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' and the producer of the 'Paranormal Activity' series are teaming up to adapt the '80s cartoon series/toy line for the modern age, and we couldn't be more baffled if we tried.
News hit last summer that Jon M. Chu had been chosen to take on the reboot of 'Masters of the Universe,' which previously had been made into a rather terrible movie in 1987 starring Dolph Lungren. But though the project is still in development, Chu (best known for 'Step Up 3D' and 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation') is off the film, and a new writer has been brought on.
Ever since J.J. Abrams signed on to direct 'Star Wars: Episode 7,' it's been unclear whether he'd be available to return to the directing chair for 'Star Trek 3.' With Paramount angling for a 2016 release, and Disney pushing to get 'Episode 7' in theaters in 2015, there's no way Abrams could do both. But it looks like Paramount is looking at a replacement, and Jon M. Chu is supposedly at the top of their list.
How exactly do you make a 'Masters of the Universe' movie? How do you take a franchise where the main character is named He-Man (He-Man!) and make a movie that audiences will actually take seriously enough to give it the time of day? That's the big challenge for director Jon M. Chu, who is knee-deep in developing the project following the success of his 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' but who says he is "really, really excited" for He-Man.
Though a release date hasn't yet been announced, Jon M. Chu is already talking up 'G.I. Joe 3' at Comic-Con 2013. And if there's one place you want to start promoting your geek-friendly property, Comic-Con is where you want to be. Chu dropped a couple of hints about characters we might see return and expanding the scope of the film to be even bigger and crazier than before.
'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' was rumored to have a troubled post-production, which made director Jon M. Chu (who at that point was best known for directing 'Step Up' sequels and a Justin Bieber documentary) look out of his depth. The film turned out to be a huge success, so it's not surprising to hear Chu's the current frontrunner for directing duties on 'G.I. Joe 3.'
'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' director Jon M. Chu is in talks to go from tanks to tweens and helm a young adult fiction film called 'Matched' for Disney.
When his last film was delayed for nine months so it can be post-converted to 3D, and it's made public that the movie has huge problems, you wouldn't expect Jon M. Chu to work again anytime soon after the headaches of 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation.' But it looks like Sony has him in talks to bring 'Masters of the Universe' back to the big screen.