You are viewing the archive: Jon M. Chu
Offering a more straight-faced brand of idiocy than its cheerfully dumb 2009 predecessor, G.I. Joe: Retaliation might well have been titled G.I. Joe: Regurgitation, advertising big guns, visual effects and that other line of Hasbro toys with the same joyless, chew-everything-up-and-spit-it-out efficiency. Largely devoid of personality, apart from a few nifty action flourishes courtesy of helmer Jon M. Chu, Paramount’s late-March blockbuster, pushed back from a 2012 release (ostensibly to allow for a 3D conversion), may have trouble matching G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra’s $302 million worldwide gross. But with no shortage of merchandising and other cross-promotional opportunities, it should still score significant attention from targeted male viewers. more »
Also in Tuesday morning's round-up of news briefs, G.I. Joe 2 director looks to new project based on Mattel toys; Iran may boycott the Venice Film Festival over sanctions; and Emmet/Furla Films and Envision Entertainment set significant funds for future projects.
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By the power of Grayskull, get ready for this: The Masters of the Universe reboot is back on the docket, with news that Jon M. Chu (Step Up 2 The Streets, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, G.I. Joe: Retaliation) is in talks to helm the He-Man flick. Per Deadline, "the film revolves around He-Man, a prince who transforms into a warrior and becomes the last hope for a magical world that has been ravaged by the sinister Skeletor." Well, duh.
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G.I. Joe: Retaliation director Jon M. Chu and star Dwayne Johnson popped up to unveil a new trailer for the exhibition pros Monday night at CinemaCon, where The Rock was dubbed the CinemaCon Action Star of the Decade and described with a nickname that's been floating around here and there for months: "Franchise Viagra." The new Rock-centric trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation seems to agree with that sentiment. So watch it below and discuss: Could Johnson's muscle-bound box office draw enhance just any limp franchise's potential?
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Here's a last bit of breezy entertainment as you head into the weekend: The first trailer for Miami-set dance sequel Step Up 4, AKA Step Up: Revolution, in which a new pair of star-crossed lovers leads their crew into syncopated battle against prejudice rival gangs foreclosure evil land developers. This series has wound a long, glossy path since the days of Channing Tatum b-boying in the parking lot, but hey: It's a new Step Up movie! As long as that Moose kid and Madd Chadd show up, I'm good to go.
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Here's a last bit of breezy entertainment as you head into the weekend: The first trailer for Miami-set dance sequel Step Up 4, AKA Step Up: Revolution, in which a new pair of star-crossed lovers leads their crew into syncopated battle against prejudice rival gangs foreclosure evil land developers. This series has wound a long, glossy path since the days of Channing Tatum b-boying in the parking lot, but hey: It's a new Step Up movie! As long as that Moose kid and Madd Chadd show up, I'm good to go.
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Tragic news from the New Orleans set of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, where a crew member suffered fatal injuries after an accident while breaking down the set. Filming closed earlier this week under director Jon M. Chu, who had already Tweeted his departure from the set days before the incident occurred. The tragedy marks the latest in a string of on-set accidents on big budget studio productions including The Expendables 2 and The Hobbit.
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Jon M. Chu's G.I. Joe 2 is adding a Wu-Tang veteran to its ranks! According to THR, rapper-actor-newbie director RZA is in negotiations to appear opposite Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson, and Elodie Yung in the action sequel. More on RZA's character and the new actor cast as Flint after the jump.
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Director Jon M. Chu is one of the few working filmmakers with an intuitive grasp on filming in 3-D, as evidenced by his dynamic visuals in Step Up 3D and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, so the idea of a G.I. Joe sequel released in 3-D actually sounded promising. But Chu always said he'd rather go 2-D than rush a post-conversion on the action sequel, and a report today suggests that's just what will happen.
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Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a number of high-profile films in the works, but the Jon M. Chu-directed sequel to 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra isn't one of them. After the jump, watch JGL expertly break the news while avoiding Dark Knight Rises talk, enthusing over Rian Johnson's Looper, and pimping his new film, Hesher.
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Attention, dance nerds! If you've been following the Jon M. Chu/Step Up/LXD crew like I have, you've got good reason to be excited for Paramount's upcoming sequel, Step Up 4. First of all, it's filming this summer, which puts it right on track for a 2012 release. And though pop choreographer extraordinaire Wade Robson had to drop out of the director's chair, he's being replaced by Scott Speer, a music video veteran and Chu compatriot who directed "Duet," the most beautiful episode of Chu's online dance series, The LXD. Watch a clip after the jump.
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As soon as Paramount selected Jon M. Chu (Step Up 2 the Streets, Step Up 3D, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never) to direct their upcoming G.I. Joe sequel, the filmmaker faced the uphill battle of changing the perception that he was just a dance movie guy. But in a new interview, the helmer goes long on his love for the property, explains his vision for the sequel, corrects Rachel Nichols' Tweet that certain characters might not return, and vehemently swears that he'd rather make a 2-D film than convert to 3-D in post.
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If you thought you'd seen the last of pop phenom Justin Bieber (well, for a while) after his rocku-biopic Never Say Never opened two weeks ago, his Rolling Stone interview hit, he died in a hail of gunfire on CSI, and he cut that magical hair, think again: In an unprecedented move by Paramount and director Jon M. Chu, a new cut of the film is being re-released to theaters this Friday for a limited one-week run. So why the Bieber Redux? And why are non-Beliebers buzzing about the impact Never Say Never: The Director's Fan Cut could have on the future of filmmaking?
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Earlier today Movieline caught up with director/digital wunderkind Jon M. Chu, helmer of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, to follow-up on the recently announced Director's Fan Cut hitting North American theaters on Friday. While you wait with bated breath for the full chat, posting on Wednesday, find out why Chu pegged David Fincher's The Social Network to come home with Oscar gold this Sunday.
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It's time to face facts: Justin Bieber is the future. You may have resisted his viral ascent to YouTube glory, or rebuffed those confection-like hit singles as they attempted to infect your brain, but this week, as his biopic-rockumentary Never Say Never hits screens nationwide -- yes, documenting all 16 drama-filled years of this pop icon's life -- we will all fall prey to the epidemic of adorbs. Here's why you should just sit back and succumb to the Bieber Fever.
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