New GI Joe Movie In The Works, But There's A Disappointing Catch

Oh no, Joe!

On one hand, fans of Hasbro's "G.I. Joe's" universe — from the toy line to the cartoons to the comic books to the movies — must be thrilled that Paramount is gearing up to revisit the film franchise five years after "Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins" bombed. But their enthusiasm should be wiped out completely when they discover that screenwriter Max Landis, whose career ground to a halt after eight women accused him of emotional and sexual abuse, has been hired to work up one of its screenplay treatments.

Curiously, Paramount is also commissioning a second, separate treatment from Danny McBride, which, according to The Hollywood Reporter, could be blended with Landis' take. Hopefully, there will be massive blowback from this announcement, which will force Paramount to rescind its offer to Landis ... although the David Ellison-run studio does not seem to care about sexual harassment and/or assault allegations. Under Ellison's watch, Skydance hired Pixar co-founder John Lasseter to head up the company's animation division one year after he left Disney due to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct by co-workers. Paramount is additionally developing "Rush Hour 4" with Brett Ratner at the helm in spite of a 2017 Los Angeles Times report revealing that six women have accused him of sexual harassment or misconduct.

It should be noted that no charges have been filed against any of these men. Moreover, Landis took to YouTube three years ago to acknowledge his past toxicity. "I get why certain people hate me," he said. I guess that's what passes for contrition in Hollywood nowadays.

In any event, provided this all comes to pass, what can we expect from this new iteration of "G.I. Joe?"

I'm no fan of Max Landis as a writer or a person (one of my best friends spoke to The Daily Beast for its above-linked piece), but executives love him because he's great in the room and prolific, on top of being a well-versed comic book fan and a full-on nerd. I'm sure he knocked Paramount out with a billion-dollar pitch.

Danny McBride, meanwhile, is best known for writing and starring in uproarious HBO shows like "Eastbound & Down," "Vice Principals" and "The Righteous Gemstones." However, he can also write straight-up, no-winking genre fare, as he proved with his contributions to David Gordon Green's "Halloween" movies. There's never been a moment in my life where I wondered what a McBride-scripted "G.I. Joe" movie would look like, but I've never really given much thought to this franchise in general. Why not him?

This development approach isn't unprecedented. As Borys Kit noted for THR, studios have taken a writers' room approach with their major franchises before, hoping for a "best idea wins" result. On the basis of Warner Bros.' "The Legend of Tarzan" and Universal's 2017 "Mummy" reboot (neither of which spawned a sequel), I'm not sure this approach is sound. Paramount has likewise gone down this road with its "Star Trek" and "Transformers" movie franchises, and thus far bupkis.

WB, the studio that Paramount Skydance is angling to absorb, just enjoyed a fabulously successful year with auteur-driven original blockbusters like "Sinners," "Superman" and "Weapons." Micromanaging ain't the way. And hiring a guy whose behavior merited a finely detailed The Daily Beast expose is abhorrent. There's an abundance of principled artists in Hollywood who could spearhead a "G.I. Joe" reboot. Exhibit a conscience and cast a wider net.