Now that Jon Chu (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never) has officially landed the directing gig on G.I. Joe 2, speculation now turns to the cast. Rachel Nichols, who portrayed Scarlett in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, recently sent out a tweet [via /Film] confirming that only a handful of the original film’s cast will return for the sequel. And by a handful I mean Lee Byung-hun (Storm Shadow), Ray Park (Snake Eyes) and Channing Tatum (Duke). Nichols then followed the tweet up with this statement:

“… Thank you. After the GI JOE news I had Heavy Boots, but I’m smiling now!”

This seems to suggest that Paramount is sticking with the small handful of characters who actually worked in the original film – one of whom has plastic lips that don’t move – and vetoing the likes of Sienna Miller, Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid, and even Joseph Gordon-Levitt who was clearly set up as the villain Cobra Commander in a potential sequel. This also suggests that Paramount is keeping the budget relatively smaller than the Cobra’s $175 million price tag. Of course none of this has been confirmed by the studio, so file it under rumor for now. G.I. Joe 2 is being written by Zombieland scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.

Update:  Paramount has settled on a August 10th, 2012 release date for the G.I. Joe sequel.  More info here.

G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra movie image
G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra movie image Storm Shadow