G.I. Joe 3 Enlists a New Screenwriter

Even though Jon M. Chu told us he was sticking around for G.I. Joe 3, and that fan favorite character Scarlet might make a comeback, the director has since moved on to bigger and better things. (Like Jem and the Holograms. Yes, really.) Although the third film in the hit nostalgia franchise has yet to find a new director, the project is officially moving forward with a new screenwriter: Jonathan Lemkin.

Don’t know the name? Jonathan Lemkin got his start writing the hit 1980s TV series “Hill Street Blues” and “21 Jump Street” before seguing into genre-centric screenplays for hits like The Devil’s Advocate, Lethal Weapon 4 and Shooter, three films produced by G.I. Joe figurehead Lorenzo di Bonaventura. He also wrote the underrated Mars thriller Red Planet, which is long overdue for a critical reevaluation, but whatever. It’ll probably never find an audience no matter what we say.

Related: Lorenzo di Bonaventura on Transformers: Age of Extinction

No word yet on the plot of G.I. Joe 3, but the film is once again expected to revolve around Roadblock, the “Real American Hero” played by Dwayne Johnson in the previous film, G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Shooting is expect to begin in the second quarter of 2015 according to Variety, so expect more casting news as well as the announcement of a new director before the end of the year (if not sooner).

This Week in Film News – Week Ending 07/04/14

William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.