After starring in films like Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder and Alien: Covenant, and writing and producing Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, McBride was hired by Paramount to write the script for a brand-new G.I. Joe film after submitting a treatment.
During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, McBride explained that the G.I. Joe reboot is not a comedy but will instead lean into suspense and action while remaining a fun and entertaining journey for moviegoers. "There's that town in the comic, Springfield, which is a town that's secretly all COBRA...that is where our film takes place," he revealed.
He's excited by the script, and, more importantly, executives at Paramount are "fired up" about it as well. The multi-hyphenate talent is hopeful that production will get underway in 2027. "We have some pretty interesting people lining up to be in it too," he teased.
Before his current G.I. Joe script, McBride had pitched a movie about Dreadnoks, the mercenary gang in the franchise, but executives weren't sold on the idea because they were looking to give G.I. Joe a proper reboot. When they asked if he was interested in that angle instead, McBride was excited to dive in and present a new pitch. "We cracked something that we really love," he added. "I don't want to get ahead of myself, but it looks like it's going to be pretty fun."
Based on the Hasbro action figures that were first sold in 1964, an entire media franchise has been created from G.I. Joe, including comics, several animated TV shows and multiple movies.
The initial films were animated, but the property finally got the live-action treatment in 2009 with the release of the Stephen Sommers-directed G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which starred Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid, Marlon Wayans, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Sienna Miller. The movie grossed $302.5 million at the box office but earned negative reviews from critics, who gave it a 33% Rotten Tomatoes score, a sentiment that would continue for the sequels.
Speaking of which, the second live-action film, 2013's G.I. Joe: Retaliation (which added Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis to the cast), was a bigger hit than its predecessor, earning $375.7 million. The sequel was directed by Jon M. Chu, who would go on to helm Now You See Me 2, Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights, Wicked and Wicked: For Good.
However, Robert Schwentke's 2021 prequel Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins starring Henry Golding flopped at the box office after grossing only $40 million.
Aside from McBride's upcoming G.I. Joe reboot, Paramount has also been developing a crossover film with Transformers after the seeds were planted in 2023's Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, but the current status of that project is unclear.
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