Danny McBride Says His G.I. Joe Movie Won’t Be a Comedy, Targets 2027

Danny McBride has shared the first concrete details about his upcoming G.I. Joe movie, and the biggest takeaway is that it won’t be played for laughs. Instead, McBride says the project is aiming for suspense and action, built around the franchise’s core characters and a darker premise.

What we know so far: script status, cast talks, and the likely shoot window

In an appearance on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, McBride discussed where the film stands with production planning. He confirmed there’s a finished script that Paramount appears to be satisfied with, that a “number of interesting” names are currently in discussions to join the cast, and that the team is aiming to begin filming next year.

McBride also offered a sense of the story’s setup. He described the film as centered on Duke and a group of other Joes, with a key location that’s been kept under wraps until now: a town called Springfield that is secretly controlled by Cobra. That setting, he says, is where the movie’s events take place.

While McBride is known for comedy work, he made it clear that this G.I. Joe chapter is being treated as a suspenseful action outing. He said he’s a longtime fan of the G.I. Joe universe, and that he previously pitched Paramount on a Dreadnoks-focused movie. The response, according to McBride, was essentially a request for him to make a “proper” G.I. Joe film—one meant to help bring the franchise back into the spotlight.

McBride’s recent genre experience comes from horror franchise work. He previously co-wrote the latest Halloween trilogy, directed by his longtime collaborator David Gordon Green. Even though the final two films in that run were polarizing, the 2018 reboot was widely successful and generally well received.

On the same podcast, McBride explained that both he and Green originally wanted to make a crowd-friendly slasher with the 2018 entry. When it came time to plan the sequels, though, they reportedly felt they had more room to do something different—something that leaned into experimentation rather than repeating the same beats. McBride emphasized that this approach didn’t land with everyone, and he didn’t pretend it would be universally loved.

He also defended Green’s creative direction. McBride said Green “led the charge” on where the Halloween films went, and that he expected some of the resulting ideas would divide audiences. He pointed to John Carpenter’s own comments about struggling with Halloween 2, suggesting that once a slasher formula starts running, it can become repetitive. In McBride’s view, Green was trying to prevent that loop by steering the series toward a chance to do something meaningfully different instead of just redoing the same engine.

As for whether McBride’s G.I. Joe movie will include a more dramatic twist on expectations, it’s too early to say. From what he’s described, though, the project sounds like it’s leaning into a more straightforward suspense-and-action tone rather than a full-on comedic reframe.

There’s also a broader franchise context to consider. The most recent live-action Transformers film teased a crossover with G.I. Joe, though that crossover has not materialized yet. It’s unclear whether McBride’s movie is intended to set the stage for that kind of event, but the timeline he’s pointing toward suggests it could arrive as early as 2028 if everything moves smoothly.

For reference, the last “proper” G.I. Joe movie—G.I. Joe: Retaliation—debuted in 2013 and was met with a poor response from both fans and critics. A Snake Eyes film followed in 2021, but it was described as a box office failure and didn’t manage to connect with audiences.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.