Danny McBride Reveals New G.I. JOE Reboot Story Details, Confirms Filming Starts in 2027
As a lifelong G.I. Joe fan, I've been cautiously waiting to see if Paramount Pictures would finally give this franchise the movie it deserves.
After hearing what Danny McBride had to say about his upcoming reboot, I'm actually getting excited. He’s a big fan and it sounds like he understands exactly what made G.I. Joe so great in the first place.
Paramount has been developing a couple of different G.I. Joe projects over the past year. One comes from The Righteous Gemstones creator Danny McBride, while another was coming from Chronicle writer Max Landis, but that one got thrown out.
There's also still the planned Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover from Steven Caple Jr., director of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, but it looks like McBride's reboot is leading the charge.
During a conversation with Josh Horowitz, McBride confirmed that the screenplay is finished and that the current plan is to begin production in 2027.
"I've written [the script]. Yes. I'm stoked about it. I'm really fired up about the script," he shared. "Paramount seems fired up about it. So hopefully we're shooting it next year."
That’s good news, but what really caught my attention is how personal this project is for McBride. He's making the kind of G.I. Joe movie he wanted to see growing up.
"It was definitely the cartoons and the comics. G.I. Joe was my thing when I was a kid. I liked that more than Star Wars, more than anything. I loved G.I. Joe. I still have all the characters.
“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, that's who plays with Gung-Ho and Snake Eyes in the shower."
As someone who grew up with the animated series, comics, and toys, hearing that kind of passion gives me a lot more confidence in where this reboot is headed.
Interestingly, McBride originally had a very different idea in mind. He pitched Paramount a movie centered on the Dreadnoks, but the studio wanted to rebuild the G.I. Joe brand first before branching out into stories focused on Cobra's gang of mercenaries, thieves, and vandals led by Zartan.
McBride then teamed up with Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri, two of his longtime collaborators from The Righteous Gemstones, to develop a new take on the franchise.
"Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri, who I wrote a lot of The Righteous Gemstones with, we sat down, and we cracked something that we really love a lot, and, weirdly, it grounds G.I. Joe. It's not a comedy," he promised. "It's suspense and action, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun."
Considering McBride's comedy background, some fans probably expected a lighter, more comedic spin. Instead, he's making it clear that this is an action thriller with suspense at its core while still embracing the fun that has always been part of G.I. Joe.
McBride also revealed the first real story details, and this is where things got me even more interested.
"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," he teased, adding, "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."
Using Springfield as the primary setting feels like exactly the kind of deep-cut concept fans would love to see on the big screen. It opens the door for paranoia, undercover operations, espionage, and the kind of tension that fits perfectly with the more grounded approach McBride described.
After the previous G.I. Joe movies struggled to find their identity, this reboot finally feels like it's pulling from the right source material instead of trying to reinvent everything.
There's still a long road ahead. If production begins in 2027 as planned, audiences probably won't see the movie until sometime in 2028, with 2029 looking like the more realistic target.
Even so, for the first time in a long while, it feels like G.I. Joe might finally be on the right path. As a fan, I'm hoping McBride delivers because I like what he’s saying here.