- Title: USA: Summer blockbuster "G.I. Joe" makes its premiere in Los Angeles
- Date: 10th August 2009
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 05, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE PREMIERE FOR "G.I. JOE" CLOSEUP OF POSTER WITH ZOOM OUT TO ACTOR CHANNING TATUM TALKING TO REPORTERS ACTOR MARLON WAYANS POSING FOR PICTURES ACTRESS SIENNA MILLER TALKING TO REPORTERS ACTORS RAY PARK AND BYUNG-HUN LEE ON THE RED CARPET VARIOUS OF MEDIA COVERING EVENT (SOUNDBITE) (English) "G.I. JOE" ACTOR CHANNING TATUM, SAYING: "It was incredibly daunting. it's actually terrifying. I was actually very apprehensive, like, I grew up with G.I. Joe, and it was a huge part of my childhood, I ran home after school everyday and I woke up every morning to it, and Duke is always, when you grow up with something, it's always something else, you have, Duke is someone else in your head, and then you're put to it, and then you're just like 'OK, how am I going to do this?' And then, as soon as you look over, you've got Snake Eyes standing right next to you, and you're like, 'what's up Snake?' I got a ninja on my side now, and you're like 'Ah!' and you start feeling a lot tougher, that's pretty much all it is." (SOUNDBITE) (English) "G.I. JOE" ACTRESS SIENNA MILLER, SAYING: "Initially, honestly, really intimidating, just because of the scale of it. It was a crew of a thousand, every day you see somebody you've never seen before, and I was used to a more intimate situation, but we all, once I realized what I was in, I had the time of my life. Obviously I got to learn how to fight, I got to fly weapons. We are really a family, all of us who made this film, and I know you have to say that when you're promoting a film and we love each other and we're all best friends, so it was like more fun than I've ever had in my life, to be honest." (SOUNDBITE) (English) "G.I. JOE ACTOR MARLON WAYANS "We did weapons training, combat training, fight training, physical training, you know, me and Channing, we worked out to get in shape because we knew we were taking our shirt off and we didn't want to disappoint ladies, because if I go out there and instead of a six-pack, I got the keg, it's not sexy." PARAMOUNT PICTURES CHAIRMAN SUMNER REDSTONE WITH PAN TO MARLON WAYANS REALITY TV STARS SPENCER AND HEIDI PRATT ON THE RED CARPET SINGER CIARA POSING FOR PICTURES (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHANNING TATUM, SAYING: "Look, critics, like Hollywood critics, generally don't like these films, you know, because they're not made for artistic value, they're made for, you just want to have fun, you just want to escape, look at 'Last King of Scotland,' it won all of these awards and then it didn't really make any money, and it's like 'why is every single amazing film wins all the awards, and hardly make any money any more,' and it's no mistake that any movie that just wants to escape and get out, is making all the money, comedies. Look at Apatow, Apatow is just raking it in, they're just having fun, and that's what this movie is, it's just fun." (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIENNA MILLER, SAYING: "I think people love to criticize movies like this, and it's been a new thing, I really don't know why, fully, but I think the people that have seen it, the guys on Ain't it Cool News, the real die-hard fans have given it great reviews, I think they just don't want people slamming it for no reason, which sometimes happens."
- Embargoed: 25th August 2009 13:00
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- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA4YVH3BWFX2A57MKCVJ0EH20GU
- Story Text: Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller, and Marlon Wayans join cast members of "G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra" for the red carpet premiere of the big budget action flick.
Stars of the big budget action flick "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" gathered in Hollywood Thursday (August 5) for a red carpet premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theater. Attending were the film's stars Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller, and Marlon Wayans, and Korean film and Music star Byung-hun Lee.
The film is based on the popular 1980s children's cartoon "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero," where the ongoing fight between Cobra, an evil terrorist organization, and the G.I. Joes first originated. The billion dollar G.I. Joe franchise cemented its iconic pop culture status as a series of action figures by Hasbro, must-have toys for young children of several generations, especially young boys.
Channing Tatum, who stars in the film, was a G.I. Joe fan as a child, and found the task of personifying the much-idolized character frightening.
"It was incredibly daunting. It's actually terrifying. I was actually very apprehensive, like, I grew up with G.I. Joe, and it was a huge part of my childhood," says Tatum, who stars as Duke, a member of the elite G.I. Joe team.
The film veers slightly from the traditional G.I. Joe storyline, updated for the 21st century as it follows an elite military team (the G.I. Joes) that specializes in anti-terrorism warfare, using the best technology available. British film star Sienna Miller has appeared in several films in her career so far, but most of them have been independent movies, a huge leap from the 175 million dollar (USD) "G.I. Joe".
"Initially, honestly, really intimidating, just because of the scale of it, it was a crew of a thousand, every day you see somebody you've never seen before, and I was used to a more intimate situation, but we all, once I realized what I was in, I had the time of my life," says Miller, who plays the villanous baroness in the film.
Actor Marlon Wayans is used to mostly comic fare -- he and his brothers are the forces behind the "Scary Movie" franchise and popular 1990s sketch comedy show "In Living Color" -- so making an action film like "G.I. Joe" was physically exhausting at times. But the actor found inspiration working with Channing Tatum, and was eager to look his best for the ladies.
"We did weapons training, combat training, fight training, physical training, you know, me and Channing, we worked out to get in shape because we knew we were taking our shirt off and we didn't want to disappoint ladies, because if I go out there and instead of a six-pack, I got the keg, it's not sexy," says Wayans, who plays Duke's friend Ripcord in "G.I Joe."
Participating in a Hollywood blockbuster was also a first for Korean film star Byung-hun Lee, who noticed the difference in the way that American film sets operate.
"Actually it was a little tough to adjust in this area because it's a little different, especially the language, culture, environment, everything was so different so it was hard to work here," says Lee, "but as time goes by it was really fun because, including the director, producers, actors and actresses were so friendly to me, so, they are really good friends of mine now."
In a highly unusual move, the film's distributor, Paramount Pictures, will open "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" on Friday without screening it beforehand for critics or other media. Studio executives say they are trying to protect "Joe" from the kind of critical savaging unleashed on its recent "Transformers" sequel. Other than military personnel and focus groups, only bloggers including Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News have been shown the film, this has led to speculation that Paramount has a bomb on its hands, a fear that Sienna Miller and Channing Tatum do not share.
"I think people love to criticize movies like this, and it's been a new thing, I really don't know why, fully, but I think the people that have seen it, the guys on Ain't it Cool News, the real die-hard fans have given it great reviews, I think they just don't want people slamming it for no reason, which sometimes happens," says Sienna Miller.
"Hollywood critics generally don't like these films, you know, because they're not made for artistic value, they're made for, you just want to have fun, you just want to escape," says Channing Tatum.
"G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra" opens in theaters August 7th. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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