0
0
Little late to the party on this one but it appears that Paramount has decided to no go with Max Landis’ treatment for a new GI Joe flick. It’s really not all surprising but the reason stems from the studio not liking his idea rather than what has transpired in the past. It’s being reported that Landis’ idea would have taken A real American Hero in an unexpected direction and that it was “weird and subversive.”
“[I’m] tremendously grateful to have been given the opportunity,” Landis stated. “[The pitch came together] very serendipitously based on the coolness of the weird and subversive idea.” He added that his reboot focused on the primary villain, Cobra, “having successfully taken over the world and reduced G.I. Joe to a conspiracy theory. But this is just how big IP development always is. Honestly, I was surprised it was reported at all.”
It had been announced last month that Paramount had hired Landis to write a spec as well as actor/filmmaker Danny McBride (The Righteous Gemstones). No word on McBride’s version but it is clear that Landis is officially out of the running. It was also said that Paramount was thinking of merging both scripts together so it may still decide to do that.
The comics did serve up an alternate reality where Cobra was ruling over a new world order with the Joes working in the shadows to dismantle the threat. I still like the idea, and it was even teased in the last film GI Joe: Retaliation as the terrorist organization took over the White House as well as the President while evoking GI Joe as traitors.
On a side note, the once planned GI Joe/Transformers crossover may still happen as it was teased at the end of 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. At the same time, there is no news on what McBride’s treatment is of the IP or if it could indeed be a crossover so we will have to wait and see what happens there. Hopefully a new live action GI Joe is greenlit sooner rather than later as this fan wants to see more action from the franchise and still thinks great things could come from making more live action films or TV series.
Source: Variety
