G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a 2009 American military science fiction action film based on the G.I. Joe toy franchise, with particular inspiration from the comic book and cartoon series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. The film is directed by Stephen Sommers, produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and co-written by Stuart Beattie, based on a 1998 screenplay by John Paul Kay. G.I. Joe features an ensemble cast based on the various characters of the franchise. The story follows two American soldiers, Duke and Ripcord, who join the G.I. Joe Team after being attacked by Military Armaments Research Syndicate (M.A.R.S.) troops.

After leaked drafts of the script were criticized by fans, Larry Hama, writer of the comic, was hired as creative consultant, and rewrites were made. Filming took place in Downey, California, and Prague's Barrandov Studios, and six companies handled the visual effects. The film was released on August 7, 2009, worldwide, following an extensive marketing campaign focused on the Mid-American public. The Rise of Cobra opened at the top of the box office and grossed over $302 million worldwide by the end of its run. Critical reception was generally mixed. The sequel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, was released on March 28, 2013.

G.I. Joe

G.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced and owned by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier (U.S. Army), Action Sailor (U.S. Navy), Action Pilot (USAF), Action Marine (USMC) and later on, the Action Nurse. "G.I." is a generic term for U.S. soldiers. The development of G.I. Joe led to the coining of the term "action figure". G.I. Joe's appeal to children has made it an American icon among toys.

The G.I. Joe trademark has been used by Hasbro to title two different toy lines. The original 12-inch (30 cm) line that began in 1964 centered on realistic action figures. In the United Kingdom, this line was licensed to Palitoy and known as Action Man. In 1982, the line was relaunched in a 3.75-inch (9.5 cm) scale complete with vehicles, playsets, and a complex background story involving an ongoing struggle between the G.I. Joe Team and the evil Cobra Command which seeks to take over the Free World through terrorism. As the American line evolved into the Real American Hero series, Action Man also changed, by using the same molds and being renamed as Action Force. Although the members of the G.I. Joe team are not superheroes, they all had expertise in areas such as martial arts, weapons and explosives.

The Rise

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Stephen Sommers

Stephen Sommers (born March 20, 1962) is an American screenwriter and film director, best known for The Mummy (1999) and its sequel, The Mummy Returns (2001). He also directed Disney's live action version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1994), the action/horror film Van Helsing (2004), and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009).

Early life

Stephen Sommers was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and grew up in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he attended St. Cloud Apollo High School. He is a 1980 graduate of Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and the University of Seville in Spain. After graduating, he spent four years performing as an actor in theater groups and managing rock bands throughout Europe. He eventually returned to the United States and moved to Los Angeles, where he attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts for three years, earning a master's degree and writing and directing the award-winning short film Perfect Alibi.

Career

Perfect Alibi helped Sommers acquire independent funding to write and direct his first feature film, the teen racing film Catch Me If You Can, filmed for $800,000 on location in his hometown of St. Cloud. The film was sold at the Cannes Film Festival for $7 million and later debuted on video in the United States.

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