Paramount's next G.I. Joe movie is officially on the calendar. The studio announced Friday that the film will open Oct. 20, 2028, with Danny McBride directing and co-writing the script alongside Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri.
Bradley Cooper is set to star as Duke in what is being described as a reimagining of the franchise. G.I. Joe has thrived for decades as a toy brand and through its 1980s cartoons, but the property has never quite clicked in theaters. The hope is that McBride, known for his singular voice on series like East Bound and Down and The Righteous Gemstones as well as the recent Halloween films, can finally make it work.
The franchise's big screen history is mixed at best. The most recent entry, Snake Eyes, faltered amid the pandemic recovery in 2021 with just $40 million. Before that, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra in 2009 and G.I. Joe: Retaliation in 2013 were moderate moneymakers but critical duds.
Longtime G.I. Joe producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing the new film with Mark Vahradian, along with Zev Foreman for Hasbro Entertainment.
Hasbro Entertainment has a number of films and television shows in development with noteworthy talent, including Craig Mazin on the Baldur's Gate 3 TV show and Tony filmmaker Matt Johnson on the Magic: The Gathering movie. The strategy is to pick creatives who can bring fresh eyes to the material and elevate it, with Hasbro willing to wait for the right talent rather than rushing projects into production.
The G.I. Joe date was not the only scheduling news from Paramount. The studio also shifted its upcoming Paranormal Activity reboot back several months to Halloween season next year. It will now open Oct. 22, 2027, moving from its previous date of May 21, 2027.
The reboot comes from director Ian Tuason, who broke out with the indie Undertone, which grossed $21 million globally on a $500,000 budget. Chase Yi, Sonia Mena and Maya Da Costa star in the feature, with James Wan and Jason Blum of Blumhouse Atomic among the producers.
The Paranormal Activity franchise has grossed more than $900 million globally. The first installment helped popularize the found footage genre and earned $194 million worldwide.
