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G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

2009 film by Stephen Sommers

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ288645 ↗
Source-derived summary

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a 2009 American military science fiction film based on characters from Hasbro's G.I. Joe toy line. It is the first installment in the G.I. Joe film series. Directed by Stephen Sommers from a screenplay by Stuart Beattie, David Elliot, and Paul Lovett, the film features an ensemble cast based on the various characters of the toy line. The story follows two American soldiers, Duke and Ripcord, who join the G.I. Joe Team after being attacked by Military Armaments Research Syndicate (M.A.R.S.) troops.

Development for the first film began in 2003, but when the United States launched the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Hasbro suggested adapting the Transformers instead. After leaked drafts of the script were criticized by fans, Larry Hama, writer of the comic book series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, was hired as creative consultant, and rewrites were made. Filming took place in Downey, California and Prague's Barrandov Studios, while six companies handled the visual effects with Digital Domain as the main visual effects company.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra premiered at the Andrews Air Force Base on July 31, 2009, and was released in the United States on August 7, by Paramount Pictures, following an extensive marketing campaign focused on the Mid-American public. Despite mostly negative reviews from critics, the film grossed $302.5 million worldwide against a $175 million budget. A sequel, titled G.I. Joe: Retaliation, was released in 2013.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” is 2009 film by Stephen Sommers. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Rise, Cobra and film, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2009, 2003, 2013—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—2009-08-07, 2009-08-13, 2009-08-06—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. For this dossier, Rise, Cobra and film is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “2009 film by Stephen Sommers” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q288645. VIAF identifies the subject as 180408323. The Library of Congress control number is n2009068396. 4 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2009, 2003 and 2013.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra primary sources, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra archive and Rise research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.