Paramount Narrows Search for G.I. Helmer

G.I. Joe producer Lorenzo diBonaventura is meeting with directors and attempting to find the right helmer for a sequel to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the special effects heavy live action movie that earned $302 million worldwide in 2009. Since it sold distribution rights to the Avengers movie back to Disney, Paramount has a dearth of live-action tentpole movies for the summer of 2012, with only Star Trek 2 on the slate—and it’s still not clear that a final script for the Trek sequel is anywhere close to fruition.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the leading candidates to replace Stephen Sommers and direct the G.I. Joe sequel are F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job, Law Abiding Citizen) and Jon M. Chu (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, Step Up 2: The Streets, Step Up 3D). Expect a decision soon, Paramount is looking to have production underway this June, which would make a late summer 2012 release possible.

The G.I. Joe franchise is, in Hollywood parlance, “extremely toyetic,” and it also tends to stimulate sales of comics and graphic novel collections as well as action figures and vehicles.

Stephen Sommers Mulls Warner's Tarzan

Stephen Sommers is in negotiations to direct a big-screen version of Tarzan for Warner Brothers and producer Jerry Weintraub, Variety reported.

Sommers will also co-write the Tarzan script with Stuart Beattie. Sommers directed the recently wrapped G.I. Joe for Paramount, with Beattie penning the final draft of the screenplay.

Warner and Weintraub have been developing Tarzan since 2003, when John August was hired to pen a new take on the Edgar Rice Burroughs-created character. Two years ago, the studio was negotiating with Guillermo del Toro to direct.

Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes was written in 1912. Onscreen, the ape-man character became strongly identified with Johnny Weismuller during the 1930s in MGM's series of features.