GI Joe Reboot Officially Casts Duke for Danny McBride's New Film
Bradley Cooper is taking over for Channing Tatum
Danny Mcbride is working on a G.I. Joe movie reboot, and he's now found the action film's leading man. Bradley Cooper is set to star in the new live-action G.I. Joe, according to a press release.
Cooper was rumored for the starring role earlier in the year, and now he'll officially play Duke, one of the leaders of the G.I. Joes. Channing Tatum previously played Duke in the first two G.I. Joe movies, though the first movie flipped the script and made him a newcomer to the Joes.
Paramount fielded pitches for two different G.I. Joe movies earlier in 2026. One was from Max Landis, who was accused of sexual and emotional abuse by several women at the height of the #MeToo movement. No charges were ever filed, but his career certainly petered out, and Paramount passed on his treatment in March.
What will the G.I. Joe movie be about?
Exact plot details aren't known at the time. McBride's movie will reboot the franchise, and won't have any ties to the Transformers crossover film that had been in development, but never materialized.
In July, McBride discussed his approach to the film on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. Weirdly for McBride, who's best known for his comedic roles, it won't be a comedy. "It's like kind of suspense and action, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun... You're following Duke and a group of other Joes... There's that town in the comic, Springfield, which is a town that's secretly all Cobra, and so that is where our film takes place," he said.
As McBride and Paramount have only just started casting for the film, it's likely years away. It'll continue a trend in Hollywood of mining toy IP for feature films, like Barbie (excellent stuff), Masters of the Universe (less excellent), and Matchbox: The Movie (huh?), which comes out Oct. 9.