IESB Exclusive Interview: A Chat with G.I. Joe Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura!
Written by Robert Sanchez
Tuesday, 08 January 2008
Who better to find out what's going on with G.I. Joe than the man behind the curtain, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura.
Earlier today I received a phone call from our friends over at Paramount telling me that Lorenzo was going to be giving me a call to talk about G.I. Joe. Holy Crap! I quickly ran down the "Things Every GI Joe Fan Wants to Know" list to make sure I don't leave anything out.
What can we expect from this live action adaptation of GI Joe? Why was Marlon Wayans cast as Ripcord? Is Ray park the right guy for Snake Eyes? Is G.I. Joe an international team or is he "A Real American Hero?" Will Duke have the G.I. Joe kung-fu grip (ok, I kid on that one). All these questions and more are answered in this episode of "Pick the Producer's Brain!"
Ok, seriously, read our Q&A with Lorenzo below. We got a lot of good information including some details we aren't at liberty to share. But as a Joe fan, my fears and worries have been put to rest. After reading this interview, hopefully yours, if you have any, will be too.
Lorenzo di Bonventura: How are you doin' man, did you have a good holiday?
IESB: Yeah, the kids got everything they wanted from Santa Claus.
LDB: Well, that's all that counts man.
IESB: So Lorenzo, some big announcements coming out here man! So how are things? How is GI Joe coming together?
LDB: I think it's coming together really well. I'm really happy with the cast I think that Stephen has done a great job and we have a great script and we've got a couple endorsements coming up here soon that will make everybody feel pretty good about life. And you know the only thing we're all worried about is we've gotta make this movie in 5 weeks from now.
IESB: Let's go to the most recent announcement that kind of surprised a lot of people. Wallace Weems, Ripcord, played by Marlon Wayans. Tell me that he nailed the audition because it's so out of the box here.
LDB: Well, let's talk about Marlon for a second. A lot of people are fans of his from the comedic point of view obviously for all the right reasons, but what I think everybody forgets about is how damn good he was in Requiem for a Dream as an actor. And, when we were trying to figure out who would be the right element to make this combination work of Duke as the leader and Ripcord as the best friend who sorta gets Duke in trouble all the time and Duke has to bail him out all the time and have fun with him, we needed a guy who's gonna be funny and we needed a guy who was going to be a good actor. And we went to Marlon and said, "We'd love to talk to you." And he's a gigantic GI Joe fan and immediately asked, "is Cobra in it, is Destro in it?" I mean before he even got to read the script he was so much fun to talk to because he understood what it was. So he got it immediately, and when we did the test, you know, we all looked at each other and the studio and there isn't one person who didn't think it was a no-brainer. So, from our point of view, he's playing a military character who's got some real good quips but he's got to be good, he's got to be physical, and I mean Marlon is a strapping guy, he's got good size to him. So, I think the fans will feel, when they see him, that he is playing the solider that they anticipate anyone from the G.I. Joe group to be.
IESB: Got it, so he nailed the audition, he gets it, he got the role. So, it's not that we are going to be expecting some slapstick comedy behind this or anything right?
LDB: Listen, we are trying to have some fun but the orientation of this movie as you can see from all of the cast members we've announced so far, it's not about comedy.
IESB: Well, I'll tell you one thing, considering you guys got Transformers right, we're gonna trust you on this one. (laughs)
LDB: I'm happy to be out there telling people. It was frankly the easiest casting decision we've made in the movie once we saw the test.
IESB: One of my buddies got one of the coolest roles so far, Ray Park is a good friend of mine, he lands Snake Eyes which is like the biggest fanboy dream, it’s perfect.
LDB: Isn't that great?
IESB: How was the audition, how did he win the role? It wasn't because he was Darth Maul or Toad, was it his martial arts abilities? What was it?
LDB: It's a combination of everything, but obviously Snake Eyes has to be a great martial artist. And at the same time, I've done a lot of martial arts movies with martial artists and you've got to have a guy that understands how to act and understands how to make a movie. The difference to between martial arts the movie and martial arts the fighting, you know what I mean? Ray just nailed it, he just came in and he showed his moves and Darth Maul had influence in the sense that you could see that he understood what to do in a movie. But, we didn't cast him just because he was Darth Maul.
IESB: Ok, now I have to ask, do we see Ray Park's face in the film? Or do we only see him in battle armor, does he have a vow of silence? What's the deal with that? Can you talk a little bit about that at all?
LDB: Let me ask you a question, what would you like to see?
IESB: I would like to see Ray Park's face and there's has to be a vow of silence there somewhere.
LDB: You would? That's very interesting…
IESB: …So we do see Ray's face throughout the film?
LDB: Well, I'm not going to spoil anything and that's a spoiler I think my friend (laughs) so let me say it this way…we are seeing a lot of G.I. Joe experts and we are content with following the information that we find.
IESB: Got it, well that's perfectly fair. So we have a lot of the casting done, you guys have the Baroness, Heavy Duty, Breaker, Scarlett, what's going on with Duke? I heard a wild rumor, you know me every time I hear a wild rumor I send it your way anyways, I heard Viggo's name has popped up, is that completely off base?
LDB: Who's name?
IESB: Viggo Mortensen.
LDB: No, I think Viggo is too old to play it in our concept. I think he's a great actor but I think he's too old don't you think giving the rest of the people we've got?
IESB: Maybe for Duke, but maybe for a different character.
LDB: Viggo would be great for Destro maybe wouldn't he?
IESB: That would be good.
LDB: But, we need an English or Scottish actor for Destro.
IESB: How soon will you be announcing Destro?
LDB: Within the next two weeks, I will comfortably tell you that. We don't have a guy chosen, we have the list down to about 4 or 5. All of them are of the English, Irish, Scottish persuasion shall we say.
IESB: Can we get a character breakdown? We've got Snake Eyes, we got Ripcord, Hawk? Any word on how soon we'll be hearing about Hawk?
LDB: I would say within the next two weeks both Destro and Hawk will be cast…and I would say to you that there's already been an announcement of a guy we're in negotiations with who would play one of the villains…
IESB: Is Zartan going to be in the film?
LDB: Zartan will be in the film.
IESB: Are we also two weeks away from knowing who is playing Zartan?
LDB: Zartan is probably within the next week, week and a half. We know who it is, we are just negotiating right now.
IESB: Is he an Aussie?
LDB: (Pause) He is a really good actor, you guys are gonna like him. (laughs)
IESB: So, story wise, can you give us a little bit about the story, are they going to make any announcements about the story any time soon?
LDB: It's a tricky balance. One, you want to keep the story elements secret. I can say this very convincingly, if you're a Joe vs. Cobra fan, then you will be feel incredibly happy about the movie.
IESB: So, would you say this is like a Batman Begins, a Cobra Begins kind of scenario?
LDB: I would say a Batman Begins. Well, I would say this, it would be more like the original Batman in the sense that you know, it's really taking a comic book, have you seen the original cartoon movie? The Joe movie?
IESB: (laughs) Well, it was an extended TV show episode...
LDB: If you would you say the original GI Joe movie was like the original Batman movie with Jack Nicholson then I would say this is like Batman Begins.
IESB: Ok, that's fair. At one point, and we've had this conversation in the past, we know this is going to be an international team but there’ve still been some conflicting reports. It's no longer based in Brussels, is it still based in Brussels, is it based in Egypt, where is it based?
LDB: Ok, let me be really clear on this point. G.I. Joe headquarters in the comic book is based in the Pit. As in the comic book, you don't know where the location of the Pit is. So, the idea that it's based in Brussels is false, the idea that it is a European base or an international kind of organization is false. It is the G.I. Joe Organization.
IESB: Are we keeping this still a "Real American Hero" or is it no longer a Real American Hero?
LDB: Um, well, the truth is we haven't had that debate.
IESB: …It's obvious it's an international team, some people are just curious to see is it still GI Joe A Real American Hero or not.
LDB: I’ll say it this way, this is the best way to answer and I'll answer this on the record, Duke is absolutely the embodiment of what the pre-83 Joe is. And what the pre-83 Joe is The Real American Hero, you follow me? Now, if that's a title question, I have no idea, we haven't gotten to the title of the movie yet. But if you're asking me is Duke a character that embodies what we think GI Joe embodies, absolutely.
IESB: Great...that's a good answer.
LDB: I mean, because to me when I think of a Real American Hero, I don't think of 12 year olds, I think of an old person. Joe as an organization is a heroic organization, Duke as a character is the embodiment of the G.I. Joe, pre-83, post, all that we all think of that kind of character.
IESB: When you guys did Transformers, you guys had the full support of the U.S. Military, are you reaching out again for support this time around?
LDB: Yes.
IESB: Michael Bay has an incredible relationship with the military, are you guys getting the same type of access, is it comparable to Transformers?
LDB: Like in Transformers, it's a long process for us to make them feel comfortable and for us to understand their needs, we're in that process and I'm very confident that process will come out in a very positive way. But, when you say "comparable to Transformers" it's a very different movie than Transformers so because there is an element of fantasy in this Joe versus Cobra, the U.S. Army doesn't have fantasy weaponry if you would.
IESB: Are there any other characters you can tell us about in the film?
LDB: Just like in Transformers we are trying to keep out all of the information from everyone because it's fun to discover it. (laughs) It's slowly being revealed over time whether we like it to or not, you know?
IESB: Are you going to see a Latino, are we going to see Hector Delgado? I'm asking because I'm Cuban I've got to know are we going to see Shipwreck?
LDB: You are going to see, right now... we're looking at it from a budgetary standpoint and how many characters can we afford.
IESB: Got it, alright sir, so shooting starts in about 5 weeks. Is it mainly going to shoot in Los Angeles or is it going overseas anywhere?
LDB: It is going overseas, it's going to go to Prague for about 5 weeks. There is an international aspect, we're travelling around, we're going to be a lot of places and it's going to be really fun, it doesn't make it an international...it isn't the fear that everyone is having, we just want to have different places around the world to give the movie scope.
IESB: And we're going to see the US, we're going to see all over the place...
LDB: We're gonna see ALL over the place.
IESB: Ok, that's good. I remember when we were talking on the red carpet of Transformers we were talking about GI Joe and Bryan Goldner was a couple of people away, Snake Eyes is one of my favorite characters, he's a ninja, Stormshadow is a ninja, you mentioned that you would love to see a spin off movie, and I know we are talking years and years away, but is it still a thought to see possible spin offs with characters from this movie, stand alone films?
LDB: I don't think there's any question that there's not one of us that hopes that...in general, I know it sounds kind arrogant that you're planning that far ahead, but I'll say it this way, if you're lucky enough to make a great first movie, you know, one day I would love to see a Snake Eyes/Stormshadow movie....but if we don't do this movie right, we'll never get to anything else. So, we're not spending any effort thinking about where we are going next. We're really just trying to figure out how to get this part of it right.
IESB: If there's one message you want to give to Joe fans everywhere, what is it Lorenzo?
LDB: I would say, just like in Transformers, our intention and our hope and our practice is to give the fans an experience that resembles the one they grew up with but it also moves it forward into the filmmaking styles and concepts and creative abilities that we can do today. So there will be things that are, like in Transformers where everyone was worried about this design or that, and when it came to the end of the day, I think people found themselves very satisfied. We're doing the exact same process in this case and the guarantee that we're staying within the boundaries of what the fanbase understands is we again have one or two people that are commonly acknowledged experts on the fan side that we ran all our questions past and really keep us honest.
IESB: That's very good. Alright sir, are we going to see another female character, Cover Girl?
LDB: Right now Cover Girl is in the script but whether we can afford her or not is another question.
IESB: I am hearing that Justice League is running into an incredible amount of problems because of the writers strike and not being able to do any rewrites, are you guys concerned at all about those things?
LDB: The good news is that Paramount never would have green lit this script unless they firmly believed that they had a shootable script. That being said, Paramount of course would love to do more work, on every movie I've ever worked for you write all the way through the movie. So, you run into problems, you find an opportunity, you can take advantage of a location that you didn't think of before, yeah, it's a drag that we can't do that. Will it make it a bad movie? Absolutely not.
IESB: Can you give us a quick update on Transformers 2. Is it still planned for shooting in July of 08?
LDB: The second, June 2nd.
IESB: June 2nd?
LDB: Yep.
IESB: Is the story locked?
LDB: We're nowhere because of the strike, we won't know until we come back. We have a very fine outline and we know exactly where we want go with the movie but until this writers strike comes back, we'll find out exactly where we are. Michael is completely on top of every detail. He's designed a lot of great stuff already. He's got a lot of great sequences imagined but you know, he needs some writers to work with before he's ready to go, so I would say June 2nd is an unofficial start, it's the target date we'd like to go for but, you know, we've got to get some writers to help us.
IESB: Now, comparing to Transformers 1, how much bigger is Transformers 2 going to be?
LDB: (laughs) You know, I'm gonna let Michael answer that question.
IESB: (laughs) Well, come on $700 million dollars...
LDB: I'll say this much, I know that Michael wants to deliver a bigger experience for everybody.
IESB: Nice.
IESB: Real quickly, GI Joe is going to be PG-13?
LDB: Well, we can't guarantee the rating but it certainly is not going to be R. I would think it is going to be PG-13, I would assume so, but I'm not the ratings board.
IESB: Alright sir.
LDB: Great to talk to you!
IESB: Appreciate it.
Thank you to Mr. di Bonaventura for taking the time out of his incredibly cramped schedule to talk to us today. It was a pleasure, thank you sir.
And by the way, stay tuned to the IESB…we are on top of Joe! Wait, that didn't come out right, I mean we are on top of all things newsworthy related to the live action film adaptation of GI Joe, there that's better. There's more to come in a few weeks so check back!
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These types need to quit trying to break stuff down and maybe work on world peace or something important. If people put half as much energy as they do in knowing what the hell a Boba Fett is and who his father was as they do their jobs this world would be a better place. I mean it! Think about nerds rule! We are the solutions! Lets start leading. Just don't make me lead please because I am drinking. 
He definately has an anoying voice! Like Snake Eyes, it really doesn't matter a whole lot who physical plays Cobra Commander, but they definately need to get someone good for the voice (not that Snake Eyes should talk though). Same goes for Destro. I just wonder how the costumes will be adapted? I just can't see some guy with a silver mask and unbuttoned shirt being taken seriously in a movie. I just hope they keep Cobra Commander's masks similar to the cartoon series, and not go with the Silver Battle armor version. Shield Face and/or Hood please.
