Paramount has passed on Max Landis’ treatment for a new G.I. Joe, sources tell us.
Note, a specific direction for the next screen version of a Real American Hero hasn’t been decided according to those we’ve spoken to. The studio, we hear, is still taking meetings. One of the takes in the mix is that by The Righteous Gemstones star/creator Danny McBride.
Landis, the son of filmmaker John Landis, became a hot screenwriting out of college with the sale of three pitches in a six-month time frame early on in his career. His script for Chronicle landed on the Black List and ultimately sold to 20th Century Fox and Davis Entertainment.
Last time we caught G.I. Joe, they were teased to be teaming up with the robots in disguise during the coda of Steven Caple Jr.’s 2023 title Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Last we were told, that direction could be a possibility.
We’ve heard that Landis’ pitch was a grounded spy thriller vein sans the classic G.I. Joe characters with a satirical adventure tone. Revitalized retail sales of G.I. Joe are essential for Paramount, hence the reason why they passed on the project. Typically, studios will get a share of retail sales which are spurred by a feature franchise film on the big screen. One source says “the studio didn’t commit to the project due to its satirical artistic tone, it had nothing to do with Landis’ past.”
Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is also the producer on the G.I. Joe movies.
Landis was accused by multiple women of sexual abuse between 2017-2019. His management company Writ Large dropped him in June 2019 amid the allegations.
The first two G.I. Joe movies based on the Hasbro toys grossed a combined $678.1M WW and featured such stars as Bruce Willis, Dwayne Johnson and Channing Tatum in the franchise. The 2021 spinoff, Snake Eyes, based on the the series’ famed silent ninja soldier, bombed with $40M at the global box office.
Paramount was unavailable for comment. Variety first had the news about Landis and G.I. Joe.
