7. Shooting starts

The team didn't have to wait long to get a commander - Stephen Sommers stepped aboard in August 2007, inspired by a visit to Hasbro's facility.

Winning Paramount execs and di Bonaventura over with a pitch, and working with Beattie and Hama to sharpen the script.

But another threat soon loomed on the horizon - the writers' strike.

The script needed help fro John Lee Hancock, Brian Koppelmen and David Levien to get it ready in time to start production early the following year.

Sommers and his cast - including the likes of Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, Christopher Eccleston, Sienna Miller and Joseph Gordon Levitt - kicked off shooting in February 2008 at LA's Downey studios.

Early footage included the Joes' hidden base, The Pit, Cobra's lair, Destro's weapons factory and several sub sets.

The majority of filming then took place in Prague and the Czech Republic and even here trouble struck, as a four-wheeled vehicle's brakes failed, sending it crashing into cars and a bus. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries.

True to the spirit of the Joe series, the film has shot in Paris, Egypt, Tokyo, and the Arctic.

Actors, meanwhile, suffered through acting in bulky, troublesome accelerator suits, which, while they look impressive on screen, were so problematic to use that even Sommers has said they'll be cut back in any sequel.

But first G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra actually needed to arrive...

Next: Under fire?