Danny McBride’s ‘G.I. Joe’ Reboot Just Got a Ton of New Details, and It Sounds Nothing Like the Old Movies

Hollywood has tried repeatedly to crack the code on bringing a beloved eighties toy line back to the big screen, with mixed results at best. Between disappointing box office numbers and a franchise that never quite found consistent footing after its early attempts, Paramount has spent years searching for the right creative voice to finally get it right.

That search appears to have finally paid off. The studio has landed on Danny McBride, the actor and writer behind ‘Eastbound and Down’ and ‘The Righteous Gemstones,’ who has officially signed on to both write and direct Paramount’s next ‘G.I. Joe’ film.

McBride’s connection to the franchise runs far deeper than a typical directing assignment. Speaking on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, he confirmed that the finished script follows Duke and a group of fellow Joes, revealing that the entire story takes place in Springfield, a seemingly ordinary American town pulled straight from Larry Hama’s original comics that is secretly populated entirely by undercover Cobra operatives.

That setting gives the film a distinctly paranoid, small town thriller backdrop rather than the globe hopping spectacle audiences saw in the franchise’s earlier installments. McBride described his approach directly, telling Horowitz “it grounds G.I. Joe, it’s not a comedy,” emphasizing that the film leans into suspense and action rather than the broader comedic tone some fans might expect given his background.

McBride’s history with the franchise stretches back to childhood, with the toy line and comics reportedly holding an even bigger place in his upbringing than ‘Star Wars.’ That personal connection actually shaped how this project came together in the first place, since McBride originally pitched Paramount on a film centered around the Dreadnoks, Cobra’s punk biker mercenary gang, before the studio asked him to take on a full franchise reboot instead.

The screenplay itself was co-written alongside McBride’s longtime ‘Righteous Gemstones’ collaborators Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri, giving the project a familiar creative team behind the scenes even as McBride steps into his feature directorial debut. He has previously directed episodes of both ‘Vice Principals’ and ‘The Righteous Gemstones,’ but this marks his first time helming a full-length film.

Casting has already started moving forward, according to McBride, who teased that some pretty interesting names are lining up to be part of the project without confirming specifics just yet. Paramount appears genuinely enthusiastic about the direction McBride has taken the material, with sources indicating the studio could have cameras rolling as early as next year.

This new take arrives after Paramount previously explored a separate script from Max Landis, which the studio ultimately passed on in favor of McBride’s version. That decision reflects a broader shift at the studio under new owner David Ellison, who has been actively ramping up development across major franchises and brands including ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ and ‘Star Trek.’

Paramount has released three prior ‘G.I. Joe’ films dating back to 2009’s ‘G.I. Joe, The Rise of Cobra,’ along with a 2021 spinoff centered on Snake Eyes. None of those earlier attempts managed to fully capture the tone that made the original animated series so beloved, making McBride’s grounded, suspense-driven approach feel like a genuine departure from what came before.

With a finished script already in hand and production potentially starting next year, ‘G.I. Joe’ finally appears to have found the creative direction Paramount has been chasing for over a decade. What do you think of Danny McBride’s grounded new take on the franchise? Share your thoughts in the comments.