After unexpectedly revealing plans to collaborate with disgraced screenwriter Max Landis on a new G.I. Joe movie, Paramount Skydance Corporation has now confirmed that it has decided not to move forward with his treatment.
In practical terms, that means the powers that be at Paramount heard Landis’ pitch and decided that they didn't need to move forward with ordering an actual script from Landis.
Max Landis was effectively pushed out of Hollywood in 2019 after an article from The Daily Beast recounted accusations from eight women who accused Landis of sexual assault, rape, and psychological abuse.
In the aftermath, his management company severed ties with him, and several major projects he had been attached to were quickly abandoned.
Reports about Landis’ proposed take on the G.I. Joe film revealed a radically different direction for the franchise. His version reportedly opened with Cobra already victorious and ruling the world.
Furthermore, two of G.I. Joe's most recognizable characters, Snake Eyes and Duke, were reportedly not set to appear in the story at all.
Paramount Pictures is reportedly taking its time with the future of the G.I. Joe brand and is currently in something of a development “incubation” phase. During this period, the studio is weighing several possible directions. One option is a crossover with Transformers, an idea that was teased in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Another possibility is moving ahead with a new film based on a pitch from Danny McBride.
So far, three live action G.I. Joe movies have been released, featuring stars such as Channing Tatum, Bruce Willis, and Dwayne Johnson. Among them, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which starred Johnson, stands as the highest grossing entry.
Despite that box office success, the live action films have struggled to win over critics and have generally received mixed to negative reviews.
Across the board, the live-action adaptations have struggled to earn “Fresh” scores on Rotten Tomatoes (the highest approval rating is 38%), frequently landing in the “Rotten” range instead.
Many critics have repeatedly pointed to issues such as convoluted storytelling, an overreliance on shaky-cam during action scenes, and a broader failure to capture the tone and spirit of the original source material with Retaliation in particular being accused of being nothing more than a Johnson vanity project.
With Paramount looking to chart a new course for itself in the wake of its recent acquisition of Skydance and looming acquisition of Warner Bros., the reinvention of the G.I. Joe brand could serve as an important cornerstone of the new leadership regime.
The thinking inside the studio, according to industry observers, is that a rebooted G.I. Joe could align with the current political climate in the United States, which places a strong cultural emphasis on hyper-masculinity and pro-military themes.
G.I. Joe started as a popular toy line from Hasbro in 1964 that enjoyed success in the '60s and '70s before launching a multimedia rebrand in 1982 that included tie-in comics from Marvel and an animated TV series that aired during the afterschool programming block.
The cartoon became a massive hit and helped define a marketing strategy that many entertainment companies would later adopt for several decades to come. In practice, the half-hour animated show worked as a longform advertisement for the action figures and other tie-in merchandise.