Paramount is reviving the G.I. Joe franchise, which originally began as a line of toy soldiers and later became a series of action movies. The studio is following up on the 2021 film Snake Eyes, which made $40 million worldwide but had a budget of at least $88 million. Now, Paramount has chosen Bradley Cooper to play the character Duke, a role previously played by Channing Tatum in the 2009 and 2013 films. Cooper, who has been nominated for the Oscars twelve times, is currently working on a prequel to Ocean's Eleven alongside Margot Robbie and Monica Barbaro. The decision to cast Cooper, known as a "prestige" actor, suggests Paramount wants to elevate the franchise into a more high-end action blockbuster. The first two G.I. Joe films, with Tatum, earned nearly $680 million worldwide before the project was put on hold. The new G.I. Joe film will be directed by Danny McBride, a decision made in mid-July. McBride is best known for his work in American-style comedy, including The Righteous Gemstones and Vice Principals. He is also co-writing the film with his usual collaborators, Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri. This new approach might help avoid the trap of soulless action films, with McBride bringing a dry humor and a willingness to deconstruct traditional masculine roles. This could be a benefit for a franchise that has often been criticized for being too simple or formulaic. Paramount has also decided to cancel a planned crossover with the Transformers franchise. A post-credits scene in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) had introduced an alliance between the Autobots and the G.I. Joe organization, and the studio had officially confirmed a shared film in 2024. However, the crossover, an attempt to mirror the interconnected universe of Marvel, is no longer in development. The new G.I. Joe film will now be "uncoupled" from Transformers, giving McBride and Cooper more creative freedom, away from the complexities of giant robots and shared universes. Paramount has not yet announced a release date, the rest of the cast, or a detailed plot. Earlier this summer, Danny McBride hoped to begin filming "next year." Until then, Bradley Cooper remains on set working on the Ocean's Eleven prequel. The studio is clearly aiming to refresh the G.I. Joe brand with a new direction, hoping to attract both longtime fans and a broader audience.