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Dwayne Johnson becoming the sequel man with 'G.I. Joe 2'?

Channing Tatum signs on to reprise his role of Duke

Dwayne Johnson becoming the sequel man with 'G.I. Joe 2'?

Dwayne Johnson

Credit: AP Photo

The G.I. Joe team may be getting  a new recruit.

According to Deadline.com, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is circling the sequel "G.I. Joe: Cobra Strikes," the Jon Chu-directed 3D sequel to 2009's "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra."

Johnson would play the role of Roadblock, the muscle-bound and amiable heavy machine gunner with a penchant for speaking in rhymes.

If he confirms the deal, he'll join Channing Tatum, who has signed on to reprise his role as Duke from the first film, which was directed by Stephen Sommers ("The Mummy").

Inside Analysis

  • This is Dwayne Johnson's new gig, and it's a good one.  He signs on to sequels of films that he wasn't in, and the sequels become bigger events because of his presence.  That seems to me like the perfect role for Johnson, especially after the success of "Fast Five."  We'll have some on-set coverage of "Journey 2: Mysterious Island" later this year, and it's obvious to us that the star has been thinking carefully about how to take these franchise roles and use them to build an even-broader fanbase.  The one thing that makes us sad about this announcement is that since Joseph Gordon Levitt has announced he won't return as Cobra Commander, we'll never get to see Johnson play scenes opposite Levitt's screwy version of the bad guy.

    - Drew McWeeny

In addition to Tatum, "The Rise of Cobra" also starred Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sienna Miller and Christopher Eccleston. That film, inspired by the long-running toy series and the early '80s cartoon, grossed over $300 million worldwide.

Many people's eyebrows were raised when Chu was announced as the sequel's director. his previous credits include the non-action films "Step Up 2 the Streets," "Step up 3D" and "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never."

Johnson, hot off the success of "Fast Five," will soon be seen in yet another sequel -- "Journey 2: Mysterious island" (the follow-up to "Journey to the Center of the Earth") and, later, as Sinbad in "Arabian Nights."

The Rock wouldn't be the first pro wrestler-turned-actor to join the "G.I. Joe" universe. Back in the '80s, pro wrestler Sgt. Slaughter joined the Joe team in animated and action figure form. 

Do you think Johnson's a good choice to play Roadblock?

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    Daggor

    Dwayne is a terrible actor. He doesn't deserve to be in any film, really. More importantly, Roadblock is black... period! Roadblock should be played by and African-American, or nobody!

    June 6, 2011 at 4:53PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      Sporteric11 Who cares about his ethnicity !!! Dwayne Johnson is an everyman who crosses all types of audiences. This isn't Shakespeare you twit !!! He is an action hero and one of the nicest people you will ever meet at Best Buy or just on the street. My kids can watch him in Disney movies etc and he is always enjoyable on the screen.

      June 6, 2011 at 5:18PM EST
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    Reece

    They should have made a Serious G.I.Joe live action movie back in the eighties, That way we could have seen Louis Gossett Jr as Roadblock. Sadly the Rock is turning into another Brendan Fraser.

    June 6, 2011 at 4:54PM EST Reply to Comment
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