G.I. Joe movie cast: Bradley Cooper nearly turned down Duke in Danny McBride's reboot — then he read the script
Paramount's third attempt at making G.I. Joe happen just landed an Oscar-nominated leader of the Joes — and the story of how is mostly a story about a very persuasive screenplay.
Bradley Cooper is Duke. Deadline broke the casting October 1: Cooper will lead Danny McBride's G.I. Joe reboot at Paramount as the Joes' iconic field commander, in what the studio is calling a full reimagining of the franchise — no continuity with the earlier films, and the planned Transformers crossover is officially dead.
The wrinkle is that this almost didn't happen. Cooper is currently writing, directing, and starring in Warner Bros.' Ocean's prequel opposite Margot Robbie — the kind of triple-duty commitment that makes agents physically flinch at new offers — and the scheduling conflict had him poised to pass. Then he read McBride's script, sat down with the director, and signed anyway, with the deal closing over a matter of weeks. Per The Playlist, Cooper "topped McBride's list" from the start — the two already knew each other from Cooper's guest turn on The Righteous Gemstones.
No, it's not a comedy
The reflex read on "the Eastbound & Down guy directs G.I. Joe" is wrong, and McBride has been correcting it all year:
"It grounds G.I. Joe. It's not a comedy."
The details back him up:
- The script — co-written by McBride with his Gemstones lieutenants Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri — follows Duke and a squad of Joes operating in Springfield, the seemingly ordinary town Cobra secretly controls in Larry Hama's comics.
- The competition for Duke reportedly included Chris Pratt and Walton Goggins before Cooper won out.
- The producers are franchise veterans Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian with Zev Foreman for Hasbro Entertainment.
- The timeline: production is expected to start in early 2027, once Cooper's Ocean's prequel (out June 2027) releases him, aiming at summer 2028.
The bar is on the floor
Some history, for stakes. The last actor to play Duke was Channing Tatum, who spent years telling anyone who asked exactly how he felt about 2009's The Rise of Cobra — most memorably on Howard Stern:
"I fucking hate that movie."
Duke was then unceremoniously killed off twenty minutes into 2013's Retaliation, and 2021's Snake Eyes stalled the franchise for half a decade. Paramount has since been shopping for a way back in — the studio passed on a Max Landis treatment as recently as March — before handing the keys to McBride in July. Now it has a Duke with nine Oscar nominations, which is nine more than the franchise's combined previous output. Yo Joe, summer 2028.
Previously we wrote: 24 Jump Street release date and cast: Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are back 13 years later — and one 22 Jump Street end-credits gag came true
