G.I. Joe is getting a new movie from Danny McBride, but it's not a comedy

Danny McBride, an actor and writer most recently known for the TV show The Righteous Gemstones, is now working on Paramount's first G.I. Joe movie in several years.

McBride discussed his unique take on G.I. Joe during a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. He explained that he grew up loving G.I. Joe, even more than franchises like Star Wars, and pitched a movie about the Dreadnoks, a mercenary group that operates within the G.I. Joe universe, to Paramount.

In response, Paramount explained to McBride that the franchise as a whole needed to be rebooted, and asked him to pitch the studio on "G.I. Joe proper." He then worked on and finished a new script with some of his The Righteous Gemstones collaborators, which was picked over one written by Max Landis. McBride says "Paramount seems fired up about" his take on the franchise before revealing more about the unique approach and angle of his adaptation.

"Weirdly, it grounds G.I. Joe; it's not a comedy. It's like kind of 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 comic, Springfield, which is a town that's secretly all Cobra, and so that is where our film takes place."

While it's still early days for McBride's G.I. Joe movie, it's exciting to get a taste of what the franchise's return to theaters will look like. It'll be the first G.I. Joe movie since 2021's disappointing Snake Eyes, and it seems different from the crossover project teased at the end of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

We still have to wait for Paramount to officially announce and unveil the movie, but it seems the franchise is in good hands with McBride. If you're looking for something to play in the meantime, I'd recommend checking out indie.io's decent beat 'em up G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra.