Six years after G.I. Joe: Retaliation hit the big screen, a new project centered on the famous toy line is in the works and is starting to really come together. Last week, Paramount began casting for its upcoming spinoff Snake Eyes, with Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding playing the titular ninja character. HBO’s Warrior lead, Andrew Koji, has now reportedly been cast as Storm Shadow.
British-Japanese actor Andrew Koji will play the special forces soldier and heir to the fictional Arashikage ninja clan, according to The Wrap. The actor has appeared in television shows such as Call the Midwife, The Innocents and The Wrong Mans, along with doing stunts in 2013’s Furious 6. He will now star opposite Henry Golding in Snake Eyes, currently in development and set to be released in late 2020.
Both Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow were created by Marvel Comics’ Larry Hama in 1984 and became arch-enemies. Snake Eyes quickly rises through the ranks of the Japanese Arashikage ninja clan and beats Storm Shadow to the stewardship he’d been training his whole life for under his uncles, Hard Master and Soft Master. The two later are at odds against one another as members of the two opposing sides: G.I. Joe and terrorist group, COBRA.
The upcoming release will be directed by Red and R.I.P.D’s Robert Schwentke and screenwriter Evan Spiliotopoulos, who has penned the live-action Beauty and the Beast, along with various Disney animated sequels. Spiliotopoulos was also involved in the story for the new Charlie’s Angels, coming to the big screen in November.
Snake Eyes will be the third live-action G.I. Joe movie after 2009’s The Rise of Cobra and 2013’s Retaliation. Both films made over $300 million worldwide at the box office on over $150 million production budgets but were critical disappointments.
Coming off the breakout success of last summer’s Crazy Rich Asians, Henry Golding will play the lead. The rom-com leading man will soon star alongside Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke in Last Christmas and in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentleman at the top of 2020.
Snake Eyes will come to theaters on October 16, 2020, with David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills and the Robert Zemeckis-directed comedy The Witches to share its debut with. Halloween Kills follows the success of the 2018 sequel to the classic slasher flick. Jamie Lee Curtis is expected to return as Laurie Strode again during the spooky season! Witches stars Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Octavia Spencer, and is based on the 1983 classic book.
A return of the G.I. Joe franchise to the big screen has been talks for quite some time and an impressive cast is starting to shape up! What do you think of this Snake Eyes casting? Let us know in the comments below!
