'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' Release Date Pushed Back To 2013

Jon Chu's anticipated flick, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the sequel that has been rumored to turn the G.I. Joe action franchise around into something substantive and profitable, starring heavy-hitters Channing Tatum, Bruce Willis, Jonathan Pryce, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Adrianne Palicki, was positioned to be a summer box office smash, but now the new G.I. Joe installment is being pushed back from its June 2012 release to a date in March 2013 so production studio Paramount can add 3D computer imagery.

"We're going to do a conscientious 3D job because we've seen how it can better box office internationally," a studio source told Deadline. "Jim Cameron did all of the Titanic's 3D in post — and look how well that movie turned out," the source added.

The news of a postponement comes despite a heavy marketing push for G.I. Joe: Retaliation that included a trailer aired at the Super Bowl in February. Director Chu had, at one point, considered shooting in 3D but decided not to due to time and budget constraints by the studio.

"There was a point where we were talking about it when I first came," Chu recently told The Hollywood Reporter. "It seemed like a natural thing, but I told them, 'I know 3D. This is what we need. If we're going to do 3D, we're going to do it right.' It had a certain price tag to it, and I was like, 'If you guys are down, I'm down, but I do need more time to do it right.' And they were about to do it, but they cut it just a little bit short, and [I said,] 'If you guys are going to cut it short, there is no point.'" So Chu was left shooting on film, which he found "actually kind of freeing," according to the Reporter.

The new tentative release for the 3D version of G.I. Joe: Retaliation is March 2013.

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