Corona | Coming Attractions

When Paramount decided to abruptly reschedule the release of G.I. Joe: Retaliation from June 29 this year to March 29, 2013, that came as a small shock to many industry followers. Why would the studio push back the release of a summer tentpole film nine months when less than a month was left before its original release date?

Now a reason for the radical reshifting of the release date may finally be coming to light. According to several reports, Paramount heard feedback from test screenings of Retaliation that indicated people wanted more screen time between Channing Tatum's Duke and Dwayne Johnson's Roadblock. The story goes that the version of the movie that was slated to come out in June 2012 would've only had a small amount of the two actors appearing on-screen.

Tatum's star status has increased substantially since he filmed the G.I. Joe movie. He's been seen in two movies that have grossed over $100 million dollars at the box office (The Vow and 21 Jump Street) and buzz is favorable for his performance in Magic Mike, set for release on June 29 (ironically, the first choice for G.I. Joe: Retaliation.)

While the official word for moving Retaliation was given as being to convert the film into 3D and capture more of that audience's dollar share, beefing up Tatum's screen time is now emerging as the more substantial reason.