Paramount Pictures and producer Lorenzo DiBonaventura are pressing forward with the third entry into the G.I. Joe franchise, and have announced a writer for the project, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Aaron Berg (Section 6) is set to take on the screenplay for the new entry, which has D.J. Caruso (Eagle Eye) set to take over the reigns from John M. Chu, who directed 2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
The first two installments have proven to be box office hits, with around $680 million grossed worldwide over both previous movies, though a third film did seem unlikely after Retaliation’s decent if unspectacular $375 million gross from a reported $130 million budget.
Berg, while relatively unknown, had his Section 6 script spark a bidding war with Universal paying a reported $1.2million for the project, which after a lawsuit with MGM (the script apparently is very similar to James Bond) in January, is now set to be made with Jack O’Connell starring and Attack the Block’s Joe Cornish directing.
No date has been set for G.I. Joe 3’s production start, nor a release date.