In one of the more unusual announcements, we learned that Paramount Pictures had hired canceled writer Max Landis and comedian Danny McBride to script parallel scripts for a new GI Joe reboot. In March, we also learned that Landis’ script had been rejected. But that left McBride, best known for HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones and Eastbound & Down. Well, that one is still good, and McBride gave a significant update on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
“I’ve written one, yes. I’m stoked about it. I’m really fired up about the script,” McBride said to host Josh Horowitz. “Paramount seems fired up about it, so hopefully we’re shooting it next year.”
This would be the third live-action GI Joe movie following 2009’s GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, 2013’s GI Joe: Retaliation, and 2021’s Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins starring Henry Golding. Snake Eyes was a total dud that only grossed $40M globally, necessitating this relaunch.
It’s worth noting that McBride, who is known for comedies, says his GI Joe will lean into “suspense and action” and won’t be a comedy as people might expect. He also says the film will be set in the town of Springfield, which in the comics is a place secretly populated by COBRA.
McBride revealed his GI Joe bonafides, and stated that the Hasbro cartoons and comics were his favorite thing as a kid…
“It was definitely the cartoons and the comics,” confirmed McBride. “Like “G.I. Joe” was my thing when I was a kid. I liked that more than “Star Wars,” more than anything. Like I loved G.I. Joe. and I still have all the characters. And I tried to give my G.I. Joe collection to my son and he wasn’t interested. You know who’s interested? My daughter who likes robots. That’s who plays with Gung Ho in Snake Eyes in the Shower. But I’ve always loved it.”
I used to make my GI Joe action figures wrestle. Like, I had an entire wrestling league with champions and shit. It was probably weird.
Anyway, McBride didn’t come to Paramount with a straight-up GI Joe idea, either. He first approached them about making a movie about the biker gang villains, The Dreadnoks, until studio reps told him the franchise needed a proper reboot first…
“I had an idea for a Dreadnoks movie. And I went to Paramount and pitched it, and they were like, ‘well, the franchise kind of needs…to be launched. So we can’t come out with a Dreadnooks movie. Would you….have an angle for G.I. Joe proper? And I was like, hell yeah, I’ll have an angle for that.”
The Dreadnoks, led by the master of disguise, Zartan, are essential bad guys who frequently align with COBRA. You can bet they’ll have a role in McBride’s GI Joe movie, which if it shoots next year will likely arrive in 2028. Hopefully, we’ll learn about casting and a director soon.
