Paramount is looking to revive the GI Joe series, with Max Landis and Danny McBride each writing a script based on Hasbro’s toy line.
The project is in the early stages of development and further decisions will be made after the script is completed and submitted.
But if given the green light, the project would mark Landis’ return to a major studio. Landis’ once-promising career — he wrote The Chronicle and American Ultra — collapsed when multiple women accused him of sexual and emotional abuse at the height of #MeToo. Mr. Landis, the son of film director John Landis, was in the middle of a lawsuit that was dropped by his attorney, but no charges were filed.
McBride built a reputation as the creator and star of comedies such as “Eastbound and Down,” “Vice Principals,” and the hit televangelism drama “Jewels of Justice,” as well as prominent roles in films such as “Tropic Thunder,” “Pineapple Express,” and “This is the End.” McBride also lends his voice to the Paramount film Angry Birds. As a screenwriter, McBride worked with directors David Gordon Green and Jeff Fradley on the successful reboot of the Halloween series. However, the trio’s attempts to reboot “The Exorcist” were not very fruitful.
Paramount has distributed three GI Joe films to date, including 2009’s GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, starring Channing Tatum, and the 2013 sequel, GI Joe: Retribution, starring Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson, which were huge hits worldwide, grossing a total of $678 million. However, the 2021 original story “Snake Eyes,” starring Henry Golding, failed to make a dent in the post-pandemic box office, earning just $40 million worldwide.
The “GI Joe” news comes as the David Ellison-owned studio is currently evaluating all major IPs for potential new releases, including the worlds of Transformers and Star Trek, two of its most profitable film franchises. Plans for a crossover between GI Joe and Transformers were hinted at by director Stephen Caple Jr. at the end of the 2022 film Transformers: Rise of the Beast. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, the producer of “Transformers,” is also the producer of the movie “GI Joe.”
Upcoming projects from the studio’s stable of IPs include Scream 7, the latest installment in the long-running slasher series, currently in theaters. “Scary Movie 6” is the long-awaited revival of the horror parody series, scheduled for release in June. “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie” will be released in July. 2027 will bring new installments of Sonic the Hedgehog, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the Angry Birds series.
THR first reported Landis and McBride’s hiring. Representatives for the studio have not commented.
