“He then began threatening the exhibitors to put his movie in their theaters, or else he said he might detonate imaginary bombs underneath their seats. ‘Is that chewing gum underneath your seat? Certainly they are not plastic explosives,’ he teased. ‘Trust me, there are bigger bombs in John Carter . Just shoot the executive behind that. Oh — wait, you did,’ he said, referring to [Rich] Ross’s recent departure from Disney. But perhaps the harshest zinger was aimed at Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks. To urge CinemaCon attendees to see a screening of The Dictator later Monday evening, Cohen promised free Rolexes, blood diamonds, and young girls — ‘or boys, if you are from DreamWorks.'” [ LAT ]
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? Johnson earned the moniker by helping Fast Five to a box office bonanza last year, but he also notably made the Journey to the Center of the Earth sequel a hit (and let’s not forget his film career beginnings, turning an appearance in the Mummy franchise into his own starring spin-off). With Chu behind the camera ramping up the cool factor on G.I. Joe 2 — Bees that turn into bombers! Rappelling mountainside ninja fights! Bruce Willis! — this new trailer makes it known that the sequel is Johnson’s film. His Roadblock is the solid wall of man meat who leads the Joes on a quest to clear their names and avenge their fallen brethren after Cobra Commander infiltrates the government and turns their own country against them. The whole “betrayed agent avenging comrades to clear their name” thing has been done to death recently ( Salt , Haywire , The A-Team , The Losers , Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol , ugh make it stop), but halfway through the trailer I realized that yes, I will watch just about anything The Rock is in. Especially if he’s all bronzed and sweaty, which is just about always. Verdict: G.I. Joe 2 was more enticing when it was all mountain ninjas and Channing Tatum and Bruce Willis in the back of that El Camino before all this silly plot reveal business, but on the other hand it has The Rock, and therefore I am in.
Channing Tatum tells MTV News the sequel is ‘wildly different.’ By Christina Garibaldi Channing Tatum Photo: MTV News Super Bowl Sunday: A time for an intense football matchup, million-dollar commercials and for movie studios to show off what blockbuster flicks they have in store for the rest of the year. Paramount Pictures was banking on fans being ready for the next installment of “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” when it presented the trailer to the more than 111 million people expected to tune into the game Sunday night (February 5). The thirty-second Super Bowl spot for “Retaliation” hit the web Wednesday, featuring intense ninja swordfights, a revamped Cobra Commander, Snake Eyes’ exploding motorcycle and, of course, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and a machine-gun shooting Bruce Willis . Yet, there was one thing noticeably missing: Channing Tatum . Tatum, who plays Duke, only appeared in the first trailer a handful of times, and with no appearances in the short Super Bowl clip, speculation is growing that he might be making an early exit from the Jon Chu-directed flick. MTV News caught up with Tatum at the set of “Saturday Night Live” as he geared up to host the show for the very first time, and he revealed he has yet to see the new “Retaliation” trailer, but hopes fans are ready for an action-packed sequel. “I hope they like it better than the first one. I think it’s wildly different,” Tatum said. “Jon Chu: I really do think he’s got his finger on the pulse of the hip younger generation. He did the ‘Step Up’s and what not, so I’ve got to work with him before. I think he’s got a really hip vibe to him.” So now that Tatum has probably recovered from his stint as host on “SNL,” we imagine he tuned in Sunday to catch the “Retaliation” trailer. Which team will he be rooting for during the game: the New York Giants or the New England Patriots? “I just really want it to be a good game. Neither one of them are my teams, but I don’t really have a pro team,” he admitted. “It’s always a bummer when the last game of the season is a landslide, so I want it to go into overtime and be the craziest game ever, but I don’t know how you can compete with the last three games; I don’t know how you keep going. The law of averages will probably say it’s not going to be as good of a game.” What did you think of the “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” trailer? Let us know in the comments! Check out everything we’ve got on “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
