NEWS FLASH: Channing Tatum's 'DEAR JOHN' Novel #1 on New York Times Best Sellers List

The Nicholas Sparks paperback book 'Dear John' has been re-released just in time for the theatrical release of Channing Tatum's upcoming movie 'Dear John' and has now hit #1 on the New York Times' Paperback Mass-Market Fiction best seller list! Fans can get your own copy of the book from Amazon.com via the CTU store.

The highly-anticipated romantic drama will hit theaters on February 5, 2010 and tells the story of John (Channing Tatum), a young soldier home on leave and Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried), the idealistic college student he meets during her spring vacation.

‘Dear John‘ is based on a Nicholas Sparks book by the same name, helmed by Lasse Hallström, written by Jamie Linden, and wrapped filming in the Charleston, South Carolina area in December 2008.

Fans can CLICK HERE to watch the trailer and HERE to check out the latest promotional photos, pics from the set and wallpapers in the CTU Photo Gallery.

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NEWS FLASH: New Books, Toys, Gift Cards, Wallpapers, Posters & More for Channing Tatum's 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra'

Things have been so busy around here with the release of Channing Tatum's new movie 'Fighting' that I decided to collect up the various 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' news bits for the past few weeks so I could do one big post to update everyone.

The film has started to ramp up their marketing in preparation for the approaching August 7th world-wide release of the movie.

Below you'll find news about new books, toys, and gift cards that will be released before the movie comes out, a new site with info, wallpapers, and icons that Hasbro recently released to promote the toys and film, new posters from Paramount, and a new interview that Channing just did at a 'G.I. Joe' press junket last week. Enjoy!!!

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BOOKS

Titan Books has announced the upcoming release of a companion book to Channing Tatum's summer blockbuster 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra'. Set to get fans’ adrenalin pumping before the movie hits theaters, G.I Joe: Rise of Cobra: Mission Dossier is scheduled for release on July 7, 2009.

Published under license from Paramount Licensing, G.I Joe: Rise of Cobra: Mission Dossier is a slick trade paperback companion that chronicles the making of the movie, combining cast and crew commentary with in-universe intel on G.I. Joe team members and their enemies in the shadowy Cobra organization.

Packed with information on the weapons, gadgets, vehicles and missions featured in the movie, this stunning volume is illustrated throughout with scores of color photos, film stills, schematics and production art.

Titan will also be publishing the movie prequel novel G.I. Joe: Above & Beyond (May 19, 2009) and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Novelization (June 23 2009), both written by American mystery novelist and tie-in mastermind Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition, Air Force One, The X-Files: I Want To Believe).

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FAST FOOD TOYS

Burger King Corp. recently announced an unprecedented partnership with Paramount Pictures, jam-packed with original entertainment spanning the entire summer movie season. Beginning with 'Star Trek' (release May 8th) and continuing with 'Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen' (June 24th) and 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' (Aug. 7th), this partnership marks an evolution of an ongoing alliance between Burger King Corp. and Paramount Pictures that takes movie marketing to new levels.

Beginning July 27, 2009 , Burger King Corp. enlists G.I. Joe for an elite mission. The 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' promotion features BK premium kids meals filled with gadgets, action figures and vehicles that offer the ultimate adventure. Each BK Kids Meal will come with one of eight G.I. Joe toys.

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CINEMARK GIFT CARD

Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (the "Company") will launch a limited-time, exclusive GI Joe themed Cinemark Gift Card in partnership with Paramount Pictures and their upcoming film, 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra'. These special edition gift cards can be purchased at any Cinemark Theatre box office nationwide and online at cinemark.com.

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NEW HASBRO WEBSITE

As you all know, 2009 is "the year of G.I. Joe" and now there’s a Hasbro website that will be your one stop location for everything G.I. Joe leading into the release of motion picture: 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra'.

GIJOE.COM, launched on May 7th, exactly 3 months from the movie’s premiere, and it’s filled with great content, exclusive news, announcements and sneak peeks at upcoming products and footage. In addition to what you see below, you find tons of new wallpapers and icons on the new site that feature Chan and the film's cast.

CLICK HERE to check out the new site now!

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NEW 'G.I. JOE:RISE OF COBRA' POSTERS

Yesterday Paramount released three new posters for 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' that feature Channing Tatum as Duke, Sienna Miller as The Baroness, and Byung-hun Lee as Storm Shadow...

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NEW CHANNING TATUM & SIENNA MILLER INTERVIEW

Finally, Channing Tatum and Sienna Miller attended one of the first big press junkets for 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' last week, and below, you can check out one of the interviews courtesy of Buzzine to learn even more about the film...

As you can see and as Chan keeps saying, the whole 'G.I. Joe' thing is beyond huge and the marketing campaign is going to be on a scale we as fans have not seen with Chan's past films. Stay tuned to CTU and I'll do my best to keep up with the flurry of activity around 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' and the rest of Chan's films this year.

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NEW FLASH: Channing Tatum's New Comic Book Released for 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra'

I wanted to let you all know that Channing Tatum's new 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' comic book "Duke" was released on March 11th, and above, you can see the two different covers for the prequel comic that is now available at a comic book store near you.

It's a first in of a series of back-stories and secret dossiers on the main characters from the film. Before Channing's character Conrad Hauser was code-named "Duke" and was brought into the G.I. Joes, he was leading a special ops team. Fans should read the new comic to join him as he fights his way in and out of a jungle in a mission that goes wrong in every way possible.

All of the covers for the four prequels and an official adaptation of the film have been revealed. Below, you can see Channing Tatum as Duke, Christopher Eccleston as Destro, Sienna Miller as Baroness, Ray Park's Snake Eyes, and the G.I. Joe Official Movie Adaptation.

You can CLICK HERE to order all four of the prequels through publisher IDW and CLICK HERE to buy the adaptation at Amazon.

In some resent interviews we get to learn a little more about the film from Chan's co-star, Sienna Miller, and director, Stephen Sommers.

MTV interviewed Sienna (aka Baroness), Chan's rival and love-interest in the film, and here's what she had to say about working with him on 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra':

"He's great, he's fantastic, I can't think of anyone more perfect to play that part. He's a brilliant, brilliant actor and is physically big enough and strong enough. He's just the sweetest guy, just a Southern gent."

We also learn from her interview that Channing Tatum and Marlon Wayans are the Joes in the accelerator suits, defying the laws of nature, as they catapult over rockets and jump through a speeding bus in the action-packed trailer.

Based on an interview that director Stephen Sommers gave to GIJoeClub.com, we learn that the afore-mentioned accelerator suits were not very comfortable for the actors. So much so, we probably won't see too much more of them in the possible second and third installments of the film.

Here's what Stephen had to say when asked to describe some of the biggest challenges encountered during filming:

"We filmed in a lot of locations: the Arctic, Prague, the desert, Tokyo, Egypt, France and the bottom of the ocean. All of them were challenging. It would be rare to shoot anywhere that was not somewhat challenging. I think the most challenging to film in was Paris...The accelerator suits were very rough on the actors. They were not very mobile when worn. I think in any potential future films, you will see less of them."

'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' will hit theaters on August 7, 2009 and fans can CLICK HERE to get a current list of international release dates for the film. The next comic book prequel ("Destro") will hit shelves some time in May.

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NEWS FLASH: New Comic Book and Interview for Channing Tatum's 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra'

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Stephen Sommers, the director of Channing Tatum's big budget film 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra', gives us some incite on what inspired the film. Here's a snippet from the EW article...

Sommers adds that G.I. Joe, which also stars Dennis Quaid and features a cameo from his Mummy star Brendan Fraser, was partly inspired by the Sean Connery-era James Bond movies. "I always loved the old Bonds," he says. "It's funny now how Bond wants to be Bourne. I loved Quantum of Solace, but it was like, man, this is a completely different movie to the Bonds I grew up with. 

In a very contemporary way, G.I. Joe is inspired by the memory of the kind of movies I saw when I was younger. I remember being in the theater for Thunderball and the big underwater battle at the end of that movie just blew my socks off. In G.I. Joe, there's an underwater battle under the polar icecap that's Thunderball times 10!"

Before 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' hits US theaters on August 7, 2009, IDW comics will be releasing 4 prequel comic books that are associated with the film. The first comic will be available at your local comic book store in March and features Channing and his character Duke.

In today's post, fans can see the cover of the second comic book in the series that features Christopher Eccleston's character Destro. Toy News International just posted the new graphic for the G.I. Joe Movie Prequel #2 comic book that was written by Chuck Dixon. It will be released by IDW Publishing this coming April.

Here's a description for the comic book...

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“DESTRO”

The summer's big blockbuster is not the beginning! Learn the legacy of Clan Destro in a bloody history lesson you'll never forget. Then follow the latest heir to the Destro manor as he travels to Paris for an illegal arms deal with some bad guys who think they can re-negotiate terms—with bullets! They have no idea who they're haggling with.

• 32 pages • $3.99

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NEWS FLASH: More Books Released for Channing Tatum's 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra'

In a previous post, I let you all know about five new books that are going to be released for Channing Tatum's upcoming live-action film 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra'. 

Today, I have two more books that I found on G.I. Joe fan site Hisstank.com. Like before, the books are currently available for pre-order and also feature Channing's character in the film, Sergeant Conrad "Duke" Hauser.

Here are the links to the books on Amazon.com and descriptions that explain what they're all about:

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DESTRO'S PLAN (G.I. JOE MOVIE)

While on a mission to transport a case of nuclear warheads, Duke and Ripcord's Special Forces unit is ambushed by COBRA, a secret terrorist cell. Duke soon realizes his long-lost love, the Baroness (also known as Ana) headed up the ambush, but before he can do anything, General Hawk's team of JOES shows up and sends the entire COBRA team packing.

Duke and Ripcord follow the JOES back to their base, the Pit, where they are briefed on what the JOES know. Duke insists on joining the JOES to complete the warhead transport and expose COBRA's ultimate plan to set off the warheads in four major European cities. This Level 3 Ready-to-Read story will feature the enemy of the G.I. JOE team, Destro McCullen.

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KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE! (G.I. JOE MOVIE)

Go, JOE! The G.I. JOE team is ready for action in a brand new motion picture from Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, set to hit theaters August 7, 2009! This 64-paged paperback with poster is a kid-friendly book of survival skills.

Want to know how to talk your way out of an embarrassing situation? Or how to graduate from college when you're twelve? Or maybe you want to learn how to be the greatest ninja in the world? Members of the elite G.I. Joe and Cobra teams have all the answers to these questions, and much more. 

This survival handbook contains advice from from the good guys like Duke and Ripcord, and the bad guys like Storm Shadow and Destro, on everything that middle-grade readers would find useful. After all, knowing is half the battle!

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I also have a quick trivia question for all of you. Often, movies have different names in different countries.  Can anyone tell me what 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' is going to be called in France? 

If you know the answer, you can show your movie smarts and share it with the rest of the readers by leaving it as a comment on this post. Although I'm sure this will be an easy one for you all...If there is no answer posted in a couple of days, I'll post the answer.

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First Look at Channing Tatum's New 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' Comic Book Cover

G.I. Joe fan site Hisstank.com recently posted a photo of the newest incarnation of Channing Tatum's character Duke on their site. Rather than rehashing previous molds or using another figure, this is the first completely new Duke in the modern era line.

Channing and other actors in 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' were scanned so toys could be made in their likeness. With a faint scar on the right side of his face, knee pads, molded elbow pads, a removable vest, pistol, knife, and rifle, Hisstank readers are really liking this version of Duke and are even thinking that the new action figure resembles Channing (ignoring the blond hair of course). What do you think?

Whether you think this figure looks like Channing or not, I'm fairly certain we can all still look forward to the release of Channing's version of Duke (aka Sergeant Conrad Hauser) for 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' some time next year. What we don't have to wait on is Channing's comic book cover.

In a previous members-only post you all got the first look at Channing as a comic book hero. In today's post, Channing Tatum Unwrapped Official Fan Club members get an exclusive look at the cover of the first comic book that features Channing and will be released by IDW Publishing in a four-issue prequel specifically for the film.

Fan club members can CLICK HERE to check out the new comic book cover.

Not a member yet? Fans can CLICK HERE for more info on our new fan club. You can also CLICK HERE to quickly register for free and get your members only password to check out the new image.

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New 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' Books Featuring Channing Tatum

Thanks to the G.I. Joe fan site Hisstank.com, I learned there are quite a few books listed on Amazon.com that can be pre-ordered and will be released next year for Channing Tatum's highly-anticipated, live action film 'G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'.

As you can see in the new photo on this post, Channing is featured on the cover of one of the books as the character First Sergeant Conrad "Duke" Hauser and fans can CLICK HERE to get a complete list of the books that are currently available on Amazon.com.

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