Danny McBride’s G.I. Joe movie is real, the script is done, and it sounds exactly like the film we told you Paramount wanted all along.
Speaking with Josh Horowitz, McBride confirmed he has finished writing the new G.I. Joe movie and that Paramount could have cameras rolling as soon as next year.
“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 said.
McBride Pitched A Dreadnoks Movie First
McBride revealed his way into the franchise actually started with a pitch for a Dreadnoks movie, the punk biker gang aligned with Zartan in the comics and cartoon.
“I had an idea for a Dreadnoks movie… and I went to Paramount and pitched it, and they were like, well, the franchise kind of needs to be launched, so we can’t come out with a Dreadnoks movie. Would you have an angle for G.I. Joe proper? And I was like, hell yeah.”
That tracks with our February report that Paramount has two G.I. Joe movies in early development as part of the studio’s big event film strategy, and the mainline reboot has to launch the franchise first.
McBride wrote the script with his longtime Righteous Gemstones collaborators Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri.
‘It’s Not A Comedy’
Here’s the part that matters. Despite McBride’s comedy background, this is not a G.I. Joe spoof.
“We cracked something that we really love a lot, and it’s — you know, weirdly it grounds G.I. Joe. It’s not a comedy. It’s like kind of suspense and action, and yeah, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said.
McBride also made clear this is the real deal for him. G.I. Joe was his childhood obsession — “more than Star Wars, more than anything” — going back to the cartoons and the comics, and he still has his entire figure collection.
Duke, The Full Ensemble, And Springfield
When Horowitz asked who anchors the movie, McBride confirmed the classic roster: “You’re following Duke and a group of other Joes.”
The setting is a deep cut straight out of the Larry Hama comics: Springfield, the ordinary-looking American town that is secretly run entirely by Cobra.
“There’s that town in the comic, Springfield, which is a town that’s secretly all Cobra. So that is where our film takes place,” he said.
McBride also teased casting is already heating up: “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 to be like it’s going to be pretty fun.”
Exactly What We Told You Paramount Wanted
Connect the dots and McBride’s script is the movie our sources described back in March.
We reported that Paramount wants a throwback, ’80s-style action film true to the spirit of the animated series, built around the classic characters.
That’s also why the studio passed on Max Landis’ satirical pitch, which ditched the recognizable roster in favor of an ironic spin.
McBride’s version checks every box: Duke, the classic Joes, Cobra, comics-accurate lore, suspense and action instead of self-aware comedy.
It’s the Ellisons’ event-film philosophy — recognizable IP, broad appeal, traditional heroic storytelling — playing out in real time.
And notice what McBride didn’t say: nothing about quips, nothing about subverting expectations. A comedy guy pitched Paramount, and the take that got him the job was the one that plays it straight.
