Paramount already has one ‘G.I. Joe’ spin-off movie in the works, ‘Snake-Eyes’ focusing on the most popular character from the brand’s canon. Now word arrives that the studio has enlisted ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ and ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec to pen another picture, featuring… well, not the most popular character. In fact, not even close. While the film won’t strictly be about him, it will include the Joe named Chuckles. Don’t you “chuckle.” It’s not a joke.
Applebaum and Nemec previously worked on the script for ‘G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant’, which was intended to be the third ‘Joe’ movie, and would have once again focused on Dwayne Johnson’s Roadblock (this time taking on the Crimson Twins, Tomax and Xamot), but that entire project was scrapped in favor of a solo ‘Snake-Eyes’ movie.
Introduced in 1987, as the Hasbro toy line was beginning to wind down, Chuckles was the team’s undercover operative, in a pastel Hawaiian shirt (which has since been found and worn by Jim Hopper in ‘Stranger Things 3’). And while most Joe action figures were armed to the teeth, Chuckles only included a pistol and holster.
Production on the popular ‘G.I. Joe’ cartoon had ended by then, but Chuckles appeared in the animated ‘G.I. Joe: The Movie’, although he didn’t speak. The film was made for theatrical release but was instead aired on TV and released on VHS. He was also featured in the Marvel tie-in comic book. (Decades later, IDW would publish grittier comics featuring Chuckles which helped redeem him among fans.)
His oddball appearance and lack of regular exposure on the cartoon led to Chuckles being a poor seller, and eventually something of an *ahem* laughingstock among collectors.
But in addition to writing a ‘Mission: Impossible’ film, Applebaum and Nemec also worked on the spy series ‘Alias’ and are currently working on a film based on ‘Rainbow Six’, so perhaps taking on an intelligence agent like Chuckles will be a great fit. (But wouldn’t it have made more sense to build the movie around the team’s more famous and popular counter-intelligence agent, Scarlett?)
As for ‘Snake-Eyes’, last we knew, Evan Spiliotopoulos was writing it, with Robert Schwentke directing, and Lorenzo DiBonaventura acting as producer. Ray Park will not star, as this is an origin story and requires a younger actor. This is scheduled to open on October 16, 2020, but there hasn’t really been any news about it since December, so it’s kind of doubtful that it will make that date.
Are you excited– or at least interested– in a ‘Chuckles’ movie?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
