Movie News
G.I. Joe: Ray Park Cast as Snake Eyes
Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on December 4, 2007
My good friend Pete over at /film just made a major scoop about the new G.I. Joe movie that Stephen Sommers is developing for Paramount Pictures. A few weeks ago, Variety confirmed that Sienna Miller was the first to join the cast as a raven-haired baroness, the sexy femme fatale skilled in espionage.
/film’s scoop, which is confirmed — and from what I can tell you, it is very much confirmed; Pete is not the type to make something like this up — is that Star Wars Episode I star Ray Park has been cast as Snake Eyes. In the G.I. Joe lore, Snake Eyes is a mysterious ninja master who serves as a U.S. Army Sergeant First Class and is known for being very stealthy. He was also romantically involved with fellow G.I. Joe member Master Sergeant Shana M. O’Hara, a.k.a Scarlett. Can you smell the love mixing with the napalm? I can.
Park is most famous for his work as Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and in Episode 2: Attack of the Clones. He is probably the best guy to play a character like Snake Eyes, seeing as he is such a badass. In fact, now that I think about it, he was one of the best parts of that “other trilogy.” This much can be said, his casting at least balances the casting of Sienna Miller as a badass spy. We are still trying to get over that one.
Up for Discussion: Ray Park as Snake Eyes — love it or hate it? This is where the G.I. Joe fans from way back should be sounding off…
Read more articles by Neil Miller
3 Comments
December 5th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
That could work. His agility and martial arts background could easily allow him to pull this off. The only question is, will a PROPER role for Snakes be written in the movie, or will he get the same treatment as in “GI Joe: The Movie”, where he’s seen for 30 seconds split between two scenes?
December 5th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Perfect casting. He’s one of the top martial artists working in Hollywood. Great acrobatics and strong combat. He was also in Sleepy Hollow and X-Men.
John is right about the role though. They could ruin Snake Eyes with writing. But let’s be honest - Ray Park is known for acting, he’s known for jump kicks. This leads me to believe he might be the silent, always masked Snake-Eyes we know, and not some emo-retread version.
As for Sienna Miller as Baroness, I stand by my enthusiasm for her casting as she meets my primary requirement for the Baroness - She be fucking hot.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
If this is truly confirmed (everything I’ve found references just the /films story), then it truly will rock.
I will say this, though….Ray Park was only in Ep1 of SW, not 2. His character was sliced in half, and (so far) there are no zombies in SW….