Samara Weaving's 2021 Action Movie Based On A Beloved Toy Franchise Was A Legendary Flop

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Paramount Pictures has long wanted to make the "G.I. Joe" movies a "thing," and understandably so. The studio had tremendous success with the "Transformers" movies in the 2000s and 2010s, leading to a multi-billion-dollar franchise also based on a Hasbro toy line. These toy lines were closely linked with one another, so why not? But "G.I. Joe" never really became a big deal in the realm of blockbuster filmmaking.

However, 2021's "Snake Eyes," led by Henry Golding ("A Simple Favor") and co-starring Samara Weaving ("Ready or Not"), became something of a legendary flop. It was the wrong movie at the wrong time, but one that forced Paramount to once again reconsider its entire approach to "G.I. Joe" on the big screen.

Directed by Robert Schwentke ("The Divergent Series"), the movie centers on the titular Snake Eyes (Henry Golding), a loner who is welcomed into an ancient Japanese clan called the Arashikage after saving the life of the clan's heir apparent. After arriving in Japan, the Arashikage teach him the ways of the ninja warrior while also providing him the home he's been longing for. However, when secrets from Snake Eyes' past are revealed, his honor and allegiance will be tested.

Weaving, who is now set to play Emma Frost in Marvel's "X-Men" reboot, plays Scarlett in the movie. She was on a serious upswing at that time thanks to the success of "Ready or Not." As was Golding for that matter, who many were suggesting would be a great candidate to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond. This movie seemed like it could be that big franchise break for all involved, taking their careers to the next level. That's not how it panned out in any way, shape or form. The movie was a critical and commercial disaster.

Paramount's prior attempts at bringing the franchise to life in life-action were a mixed bag at best. 2009's "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" made just $302 million worldwide at the box office on a whopping $175 million budget. Yet, Paramount still felt it had franchise potential, so 2013's "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" pressed forth, adding some star power in the form of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. It performed better, taking in $375 million on a smaller $140 million budget, but these still weren't "Transformers" grosses.

It was announced that Paramount was moving forward with a third "G.I. Joe" movie in 2013, but those plans stalled. Eventually, it was decided that the approach would be altered entirely, with the character Snake Eyes announced to lead his own "G.I. Joe" spin-off movie in 2018. This would be an origin story that, in theory, could be a new building block for the cinematic universe Hasbro and Paramount clearly wanted to build.

Andrew Koji ("Warrior") was cast as Storm Shadow alongside the likes of Samara Weaving and Henry Golding, with development moving along. Problems quickly emerged, though, particularly during the post-production process. Paramount originally planned to release the movie in 2020. However, the Covid-19 pandemic upended things, with "Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins" delayed to 2021 along with many other Hollywood releases that were waiting on the world to sort itself out.

The bigger problem is that Paramount didn't have some hidden gem on their hands. The movie was met with lousy reviews when it finally arrived in July 2021. Writing for /Film at the time, Hoai-Tran Bui called "Snake Eyes" a "shaky G.I. Joe prequel" with "terrible action scenes" in her review.

Bui wasn't alone in her assessment. The movie holds a lousy 35% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience rating is better at 74%, but not nearly enough to save it. It's also very important to remember that summer 2021 was far from an optimal time to release a big movie in theaters. The 2021 summer box office was up 893% compared to 2020, but considering that theaters all over the world had been shut down, it wasn't exactly a return to normalcy by any stretch.

"Snake Eyes" bombed at the box office on opening weekend in July 2021, taking in just $13.3 million, in second place behind M. Night Shyamalan's "Old" ($16.8 million). It fell off a cliff when Disney's "Jungle Cruise" arrived the following weekend, sealing its fate. Ultimately, Paramount's "G.I. Joe" origin flick took in just $40 million worldwide against a reported $88 million production budget. It was a total disaster.

Paramount rolled the dice and released "Snake Eyes" early on Digital and On Demand, hoping that perhaps the movie would find an audience on streaming. While VOD numbers aren't generally made available to the public, it's safe to say this one didn't work out as anyone had hoped at the outset. Case in point, we haven't had another entry in the franchise on the silver screen in the years since.

That being said, a new "G.I. Joe" movie is coming with a surprising director in Danny McBride ("The Righteous Gemstones"). It won't go down the solo character origin story route, but this will be Paramount's third iteration in an attempt to make this franchise work in live-action. Maybe the third time's a charm.

You can grab "Snake Eyes" on 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD from Amazon.