With G.I. Joe: Retaliation director Jon M. Chu signing on to direct a Jem and the Holograms movie, the status of G.I. Joe 3 became uncertain.  Would Chu be able to direct both films?  Would he drop Joe for a different 80s property?  During a group interview with Johnson at CinemaCon for Hercules, he revealed Chu will not be back for the third installment and they're currently looking for a director.

However, before you start to think the Joe franchise is entering development hell, Johnson revealed "the idea is that we would start shooting G.I. Joe in January, in the first quarter of next year. That's the idea."  While Chu did a great job with the second installment, there are plenty of directors in Hollywood that can handle this franchise.  Also, Paramount has been working on the screenplay for the 3rd installment for over six months, so I'd like to think they have some sort of idea where the franchise will go.  They can easily bring in a new director and have it going early next year.  With the second film making $375 million worldwide, it's a safe bet the third installment is going to happen.  Hit the jump for Johnson's quotes.

dwayne-johnson-g-i-joe-3

Here's what Johnson said about G.I. Joe 3.  Let us know who you think would be a good director for the franchise in the comments.  You never know who is reading them...

Question:  Have you guys talked about when another G.I. Joe might happen, because I know Jon Chu's doing some other things now.

Johnson: Yeah, yeah. Well, the idea is that we would start shooting G.I. Joe in January, in the first quarter of next year. That's the idea. Look, I love Jon, and I think he did a great job. I get it. He had to go on and do something else. By the way, maybe...

He could still be done by then.

Johnson: Could be, right?

So do you guys have a Joe 3 director yet? Are you still looking?

Johnson: We're still looking, yeah.

For more with Dwayne Johnson:

dwayne-johnson-bruce-willis-g-i-joe-retaliation-image