Bradley Cooper to play Duke in new G.I. Joe movie

PUBLISHED ONOctober 03, 20269:28 AM

Bradley Cooper is swapping Oscar dramas and the casinos of Ocean’s for the battlefield after signing up to play Duke in Paramount’s new G.I. Joe movie.

The 51-year-old actor will take on the role of the elite military team’s field commander in the latest big-screen version of Hasbro’s action franchise, with The Righteous Gemstones creator Danny McBride making his major feature directing debut.

Plot details and the rest of the cast are being kept under wraps, but Paramount has described the project as a fresh take on the toy line.

The movie will also officially abandon a previously teased plan to bring G.I. Joe and Transformers together on screen.

The crossover appeared to be set up by the ending of 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, but Paramount has now confirmed that G.I. Joe has been “uncoupled” from the Transformers franchise.

Danny has co-written the screenplay with Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri, his collaborators on HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones.

Bradley previously appeared in the show’s fourth and final season, guest-starring as Elijah Gemstone in the Civil War-set premiere directed by Danny.

The new movie represents another attempt to bring the Hasbro property to cinemas following G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and the 2021 spin-off Snake Eyes. Duke was previously played on the big screen by Channing Tatum.

Bradley arrives at the franchise with 12 Academy Award nominations and a career spanning The Hangover films, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle and American Sniper.

He made his feature directing debut with 2018’s A Star Is Born, starring opposite Lady Gaga, before directing Maestro and Is This Thing On?.

His G.I. Joe casting comes while he is working on another major franchise — writing, directing and starring in Warner Bros’ currently untitled Ocean’s Eleven prequel.

Bradley stars opposite Margot Robbie, with the pair playing the parents of Danny Ocean, the character played by George Clooney in Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s trilogy.

The prequel follows the pair as they attempt a heist connected to the Monaco Grand Prix and is scheduled for release on June 25, 2027.

Bradley and Margot have recently been photographed filming the period production in France, including Saint-Tropez, with scenes also shot in Paris.

The cast includes Monica Barbaro, Wagner Moura, George MacKay, Vicky Krieps, Lauren Ridloff, Omar Sy and Josh Gad.

Margot’s involvement comes after her recent starring role as Catherine Earnshaw opposite Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights.

Danny, meanwhile, is best known for creating and starring as Jesse Gemstone in The Righteous Gemstones, which concluded its four-season HBO run in 2025.

His screen career also includes Eastbound and Down, Vice Principals, Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder.

He previously directed The Righteous Gemstones pilot and other episodes of his television projects, but G.I. Joe will mark his first major action feature as director.

The film will be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian and Zev Foreman for Hasbro Entertainment.

It forms part of an expanding slate of franchise projects being developed at Paramount under co-chairs Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg.

The studio is also developing a Days of Thunder sequel with Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway, as well as another World War Z, a new Paranormal Activity project involving James Wan, another Star Trek film, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 and a Call of Duty movie.

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