Bradley Cooper lands Duke role in new 'G.I. Joe' movie

Bradley Cooper is set to lead Paramount Pictures’ new G.I. Joe movie, taking on the role of Duke, the military team’s central leader.

Danny McBride will direct the untitled live-action film and co-wrote the screenplay with Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri. The project is based on Hasbro’s G.I. Joe property, which became widely known through its 1980s cartoon series and Marvel Comics adaptation.

Cooper’s Duke was previously played by Channing Tatum in Paramount’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra in 2009 and G.I. Joe: Retaliation in 2013. Details about the new film’s story and wider cast have not yet been revealed.

The G.I. Joe movie is among Paramount’s major intellectual property projects as the studio develops new films based on established franchises. The project is being produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian and Zev Foreman for Hasbro Entertainment.

The casting marks a notable franchise role for Cooper, whose recent work has largely focused on projects outside major action properties. He starred as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro, which he also co-wrote and directed and which received four Oscar nominations.

Cooper also recently co-wrote, directed and starred in Is This Thing On? He is known for voicing Rocket in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy films and appeared in James Gunn’s Superman.

Cooper previously worked with McBride through an appearance in HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones, which McBride co-created and starred in.