A new G.I. Joe is coming together with a somewhat surprising name at the helm.
Deadline reports that Danny McBride has gotten the gig directing he next G.I. Joe film. He has previously been working on its screenplay. When it happens, the movie will be McBride’s feature directorial debut.
On screen, McBride is best known as a comedian, having appeared in films like Pineapple Express and Your Highness, and on TV in Eastbound & Down and The Righteous Gemstones. But off-screen, McBride has written a fair amount of stuff outside the comedy genre. For example, he co-wrote and produced all three of his long-time collaborator David Gordon Green’s Halloween legacyquels.
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McBride’s would be the fourth live-action G.I. Joe movie, following 2009’s The Rise of Cobra, 2013’s Retaliation, and 2021’s Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins. The first two films were part of a series, with some characters and actors (like Channing Tatum’s Duke and Ray Park’s Snake Eyes) appearing in both. Snake Eyes was a prequel and quasi-reboot, with Henry Golding taking over the title role.
Although the first two Joes were solid hits at the box office — each grossed more than $300 million worldwide — Snake Eyes was a massive flop, topping out at $40 million in ticket sales globally. Afterwards, the franchise was put on pause. Since then, there have been hints and teases at a potential crossover movie between Hasbro’s two big action figure IPs: G.I. Joe and Transformers.
We’ll have to wait and see whether McBride’s G.I. Joe leads into that sort of cinematic universe, or is connected to any of the previous live-action movies in any way. (We’ll also have to see if McBride’s G.I. Joe is a comedy at all, or whether it’s closer in tone to his Halloween scripts.)
