by FilmInk Staff
While some might argue that Hollywood’s legacy through the 2010s will be one of brand recognition and reboots, the box-office success of the strategy, for the most part, has proven that nostalgia is a bankable asset. One of the leading advocates for developing and delivering contemporary retellings of classic franchises is producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, whose recent work encompasses the likes of Transformers, DOOM, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, numerous Stephen King properties and the G.I. Joe franchise, including the latest entry Snake Eyes, the series’ first character focused origin story.
After struggling to find open cinema screens during the pandemic, the G.I. Joe origin story is about to embrace a much wider audience, thanks to its imminent release across digital platforms.
With Snake Eyes, we are starting from the very beginning of his origins story. For those unfamiliar with the mythology of the character, can you offer some insight into the source material and where you drew inspiration for the film?
“Well, the mythology starts in 1980 with writer Larry Hama. In that comic book, you briefly saw Snake Eyes out of his costume. We’re going before the Joes, seeing him join the Arashikage clan, or at least trying to. We are seeing him without his mask, he hasn’t had a helicopter crash, and he hasn’t burned his face.
“As cool as Snake always is, having a character who doesn’t talk isn’t easy. So, when we decided to do the movie, exploring his origin story was one of the big decisions we had to make.
“So, we talked to Larry Hama about it to make sure that he wasn’t going to say ‘What are you guys doing?’ And he thought it was a great idea! Even he said he had a hard time writing Snake in the comics.
“So that’s a distinct difference of these origin films, it’s an addition to the mythology as opposed to an opposition to the mythology.”
Why was Snake Eyes chosen as the first character to kick off these G.I. Joe Origins films?
“I think in many ways, he’s the most iconic character of the mythology. And one of the things that is so great in his story is the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow collision.
“You already have a real emotion and real tension that comes with their rivalry, so it’s really fun to start beforehand, when they are still pals. That’s what the movie is about, these two young men, who are trying to find their position in life, who start as friends and end up as rivals.”
As you say, Snake Eyes, and even Storm Shadow are some of the most iconic G.I. Joe characters, was it difficult casting the characters?
“As soon as you get into casting a 30-year-old actor or actress, who has the value to justify to the studio that we are going to spend a lot of money, that’s always a pretty short list.
“But Henry (Golding) stood out for us. He has such a fresh face, charisma and he was also willing to take on the physical demands of the movie. He’s got to swordfight, ride a motorcycle fast, and still lead the film, so you need an actor who’s really game. “And when Robert (Schwentke – director) met with him they clicked. It’s turned out great and he’s having fun and we are having fun with him.”
A big part of the G.I. Joe franchise has been the inclusion of female characters, and the films, including Snake Eyes continue to embrace the trend. Can you tell us about the casting Úrsula Corberó as the Baroness?
“Well, what’s so funny about Úrsula is, by coincidence I was browsing Netflix many years ago, just flipping through shows and up came Money Heist and I was like ‘Alright, Money Heist, let’s see this’. I was like wow!
“First of all, I thought the show was fantastic, but Úrsula was such a standout; you can’t take your eyes off her, she’s got such attitude. The Baroness needs that kind of attitude, and she’s really bringing it, she’s just having fun.
“The audience is going to love her as a character, I have no doubt. And our costume designer, Louise Mingenbach, has given her the greatest costumes so she’s just strutting her stuff and it’s great.”
Apart from featuring a number of classic Joe characters, Snake Eyes has given you the opportunity to introduce new characters to the franchise. There’s been a good amount of speculation and excitement around the casting of Haruka Abe (Cruella) as a character named Akiko. Can you offer a little detail on her role in the story?
“Akiko is involved with the Arashikage clan, basically as the head of security. She is very sceptical of Snake Eyes because he is a man of mystery. Plus, she can’t find anything about him, and that makes her not trust him.”
I understand a good portion of the film is shot on location in Japan, a notoriously difficult place to shoot thanks to the bureaucracy and expense. Was the plan always to shoot in Japan?
“Well, here’s the truth, we wanted it to be shot in Japan. We didn’t know if we could convince the studio, because in Hollywood, Japan has been sort of forbidden ground, because of cost, difficulty, all these different things.
“One of the great things about making Transformers is we’ve shot all over the world. So, for this movie, to have the kind of authenticity that we were trying to accomplish, we knew we had to come to Japan. So, we sort of just kept pushing and pushing and to Paramount’s credit, they not only let us come, but we shot 60 days. So, Japan is very much a part of the fabric of this movie.”
“We also did something, which in retrospect makes us look even smarter than we thought we were, which was when we shot the first half of the movie in Vancouver, we hired a Japanese second unit director and stunt coordinator Kenji Tanigaki (Rurouni Kenshin), and many of our cast are Japanese, or they are Japanese American or Japanese English. I would say we were probably 20 percent Japanese in Vancouver, and in Japan we’re probably 75 percent Japanese.
“I suspect given our embracing of people here and having brought them to Vancouver and showing them that we weren’t just coming to Japan and using them, I think that won us some credibility.”
And finally, having had the opportunity to focus on a single character as opposed to previous Joe films, which have been saturated with characters, do you think the franchise will continue to showcase these more personal stories as a way of building the G.I. Joe cinematic universe?
“It’s too early to say.
“I would say, however, that the lesson that I have learned several times in my career, sometimes by mistake, is that if you try to herald too many characters, nobody comes out quite right.
“I think that, what we struggled with in the first two Joe movies, is that we tried to give the fans all the characters. And in a way, it didn’t allow enough of the characters to breathe. So, whatever approach we take, I think it will be with less characters.
“Similar to what we have done here, even though this is centering around Snake, Storm Shadow is in this, Scarlett is in this, Baroness is in this. In a way it’s sort of half the world.”
Snake Eyes will be released across Digital platforms on August 25, 2021
