When Paramount delayed GI Joe Retaliation a year, people scratched their heads so hard they poked their brain. WHY?

Paramount responded, saying that they wanted to convert the film to 3D. OK, but that makes them look greedy and stupid. They didn’t think about 3D before that?

Now The Hollywood Reporter is saying that’s not the real reason. The real reason is that they were terrified of The Amazing Spider-Man. I know, Spidey is a good guy – he’s not supposed to be scary! But apparently his potential box office receipts are terrifying.

Especially when you consider big blockbusters like John Carter and Battleship bombing big months apart. If you’re already concerned that Spider-Man is going to hurt your product, and then you watch two big movies fall on their face hard, you’re going to pause.

And then there’s the emergence of Channing Tatum as a box office draw. And that your movie cuts Tatum out of the movie by a lot. Biggest question I’ve received about the GI Joe sequel: where’s Channing Tatum?

There’s a chance Paramount not only converts to 3D but also reshoots some of the film to get him involved more.

You know what that means? This movie is going to be bad. Any chance it had of being good is thrown out the window like years-old mayonnaise. Oh, and let’s not forget Paramount spent a lot of million on the advertising campaign, which included a Super Bowl ad.

So Paramount is essentially picking whether they want to flop now, or spend more money and try to make more money with a 3D-infused boost. They can’t win this time. [THR via Movies.com]

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