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Back in late February came the news that both Max Landis and Danny McBride had been hired by Paramount to develop two separate scripts for a new feature adaptation of the Hasbro toy brand “G.I. Joe”.
Shortly after, the studio rejected Landis’ version over creative differences but continued on with development of McBride’s take.
Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast this week, McBride confirmed that he has written a script for an all-new “G.I. Joe” movie and the plan is to begin shooting soon:
“I’ve written one, yes. I’m stoked about it. I’m really fired up about the script. Paramount seems fired up about it, so hopefully we’re shooting it next year.”
McBride adds that he was inspired by the cartoons and the comics, calling the franchise his childhood obsession:
“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.”
He says he originally approached Paramount with an idea for a film about the Dreadnoks, a group of mercenaries who worked for “G.I. Joe” villains Zartan and Cobra over the years.
He was then told by the studio that they wanted to relaunch “G.I. Joe” before committing to any such project. So, he and his fellow “The Righteous Gemstones” writers Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri sat down to come up with ideas.
“We cracked something that we really love a lot, and, weirdly, it grounds G.I. Joe. It’s not a comedy. It’s suspense and action, and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.
You’re following Duke and a group of other Joes. There’s that town in the comics, Springfield, which is a town that’s secretly all Cobra. That is where our film takes place.
We have some pretty interesting people lining up to be in it, too. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it looks like it’s going to be pretty fun.”
Three live-action “G.I. Joe” films have been made starting in 2009 followed by a sequel in 2013 and then a character-centric spin-off “Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins” in 2021. All were widely panned, though the second of the three did earn $376 million globally.
The post Danny McBride Talks Reviving “G.I. Joe” appeared first on Dark Horizons.
