Bradley Cooper Cast as Duke in Danny McBride’s G.I. JOE Movie

Bradley Cooper is reporting for duty. The actor is set to play Duke in Paramount Pictures’ new G.I. Joe movie, putting one of Hollywood’s biggest stars at the center of the studio’s latest attempt to bring Hasbro’s military franchise back to the big screen.

Danny McBride is directing and co-writing the film, and the project is shaping up to be a very different take on the Joes.

Cooper was McBride’s top choice for Duke after the filmmaker landed the directing job. His involvement wasn’t guaranteed, especially with his packed schedule, but after reading the script and meeting with McBride, Cooper wanted in.

The two already have some history together. McBride previously recruited Cooper for a memorable guest role on The Righteous Gemstones, and now they’re teaming up for something on a much larger scale. I like the idea of Cooper playing Duke! He’s a good fit for the role!

McBride is writing the screenplay with Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri, his longtime Righteous Gemstones collaborators. While McBride’s comedy background might have fans wondering exactly what kind of G.I. Joe movie he’s making, he says they’re taking the material seriously.

"Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri, who I wrote a lot of The Righteous Gemstones with, we sat down, and we cracked something that we really love a lot, and, weirdly, it grounds G.I. Joe. It's not a comedy," he promised. "It's suspense and action, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun."

A grounded G.I. Joe action thriller built around Duke certainly sounds like an interesting direction, but McBride has also revealed a story detail that makes the project even more intriguing.

"You're following Duke and a group of other Joes. There's that town in the comics, Springfield, which is a town that's secretly all Cobra. That is where our film takes place," he teased, adding, "We have some pretty interesting people lining up to be in it, too. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but it looks like it's going to be pretty fun."

Springfield is a great location to build a G.I. Joe movie around. The seemingly ordinary town is secretly controlled by Cobra, giving McBride plenty of room to mix military action, paranoia, suspense, and the wonderfully strange mythology of the franchise.

Plot details beyond that are being kept under wraps, but the movie is described as a reimagining of G.I. Joe. It also won’t be connected to the previously planned Transformers crossover movie, which is no longer in development.

Cooper comes aboard while juggling several major projects. He recently earned acclaim for Is This Thing On?, which he directed, co-wrote, and starred in opposite Will Arnett. He’s also currently working on the upcoming Ocean’s prequel with Margot Robbie.

After director Lee Isaac Chung departed that project during pre-production, Warner Bros. turned to Cooper to help keep it moving toward its planned release. Cooper took on writing and directing duties in addition to starring opposite Robbie and assembled the kind of high-profile ensemble associated with the Ocean’s movies. Production is currently underway in Europe.

The new G.I. Joe movie is being produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian, and Zev Foreman for Hasbro Entertainment.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about Paramount’s latest G.I. Joe reboot, including which other Joes and Cobra characters will join Duke in Springfield. Cooper as Duke, McBride directing, and a Cobra-controlled town at the center of the story already make this a pretty cool combination.

If McBride and his collaborators can capture the military adventure, colorful characters, and weird story energy that make G.I. Joe fun while delivering the suspense-driven action movie they’re describing, this could be a great movie!

Source: Deadline