Hasbro and Paramount Pictures are not pursuing a new G.I. Joe. Several sources informed Variety that the film Joe was written by Max Landis.
Earlier this year, the studio and the toymaker hired Landis, the son of “Trading Places” filmmaker John Landis, to write a story about the famous action figures. The resurgence of this IP and others, such as “Star Trek,” is a top priority for Paramount’s incoming cinematic leadership.
According to one report, Paramount rejected Landis’s approach for artistic reasons. Danny McBride, star of “The Righteous Gemstones,” is among the other writers whose scripts the studio is still negotiating with and anxiously awaiting.
Landis expressed his gratitude to Variety via Instagram, saying he was “tremendously grateful to have been given the opportunity.”
His pitch came together “very serendipitously based on the coolness of the weird and subversive idea,” he explained.
The idea revolved around Cobra, the antagonist of the movie series, “having successfully taken over the world and reduced GI Joe to a conspiracy theory. But this is just how big IP development always is. Honestly, I was surprised it was reported at all.”
Landis’s career collapsed after eight women accused him of sexual misconduct and other wrongdoing in 2016. News of his involvement in the film made headlines. At the time, several studio-based development initiatives were canceled, and Landis was fired from the CAA agency.
