Paramount Pictures has a major star in its crosshairs to lead its latest attempt to launch a successful, live-action G.I. Joe franchise.
According to Nexus Point News, after originally having a deal with Chris Hemsworth to lead the 2028 film, Paramount is now eyeing Bradley Cooper to head up the new iteration of its covert, special-ops task force. Though it’s not been revealed, it would seem Cooper would be portraying Conrad “Duke” Hauser in the film, which was written by Danny McBride.
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. 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.
-Danny McBride
NPN reports that after Hemsworth originally agreed to the role, he has “exited the project for undisclosed reasons.” Paramount then pivoted to Cooper, perhaps hoping to tap into his ability to portray intense, psychological military trauma—reminiscent of his acclaimed work in Clint Eastwood‘s American Sniper.
If casual audiences are expecting a repeat of the campy, high-tech gadgetry of 2009’s The Rise of Cobra, McBride is actively preparing to completely subvert those expectations. McBride recently unveiled the foundation of the script, which successfully won a highly competitive, dual-development battle at Paramount against a rival pitch from writer Max Landis.
McBride‘s narrative engine will pull directly from the classic Marvel comic run, dropping Duke and a localized, elite group of Joes into Springfield—a seemingly perfect, idyllic small American town that is secretly populated, governed, and fortified entirely by the terrorist network Cobra.
If Cooper officially signs on the dotted line to lead this group of Joes into Springfield, his distinct dramatic weight combined with McBride’s sharp character writing might finally give the Real American Heroes the elite, prestige action blockbuster they have deserved for decades.
Source: NPN
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