According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” director John M. Chu and “The Italian Job” director F. Gary Gray are two frontrunners in line to possibly direct the next installment of the “G.I. Joe” series.

According to the site, Paramount has a lot riding on the lucrative “G.I. Joe” franchise, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has been hard at work interviewing directors to see which one will be a good fit for directing the sequel. The first film, “G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra”, was directed by Stephen Sommers, who said he wouldn’t be returning to the franchise.

It’s easy to see why Chu is in high demand right now; “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never”, a documentary about the meteoric rise of the young pop star, has grossed $32,014,108 thus far as of its release last Friday.

The “G.I. Joe” sequel is expected to include some of the principal actors from the last film; according to an article by Ace Showbiz, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Rachel Nichols and Sienna Miller have already stated that they have signed up for the next film. e

Even though there is no director in place yet, the film is scheduled to be out sometime in 2012.

G.I. Joe