Paramount Hires A Writer For 'G.I. Joe' Spin-Off Film 'Snake Eyes'

Paramount isn’t done with the “G.I. Joe” franchise just yet.

While it’s not necessarily news that the studio is interested in reviving the franchise, based on the highly popular toys and cartoons from the ‘80s, The Hollywood Reporter says that Paramount isn’t interested in a team film anymore. Instead, the studio wants to focus on one ‘Joe’ in particular – Snake Eyes.

THR is reporting that Paramount is looking at Evan Spiliotopoulos to pen a “Snake Eyes” script based on the silent ninja hero. Spiliotopoulos has previously worked on “Beauty and the Beast,” as well as “The Huntsman: Winter’s War.” He also is the writer behind Netflix’s “Bright 2.” We’ll see how well the writer does when given a character that literally doesn’t speak.

Snake Eyes is arguably the coolest G.I. Joe in existence. His iconic look is what skyrocketed his popularity among fans. The character has appeared in both live-action films, “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” portrayed by Ray Park.

Over the last couple years, Paramount has been looking to reboot the franchise, as the previous films have failed to live up to their massive expectations, both commercially and critically. It’s bad when not even The Rock can save the franchise. Back in 2016, it was reported that Paramount had hired a slew of writers for a “writers room,” in the same fashion that they did for “Transformers.” It doesn’t appear that anything came of that, and now they’re back at square one.

However, it might be a good idea to reboot the franchise on the back of its most popular character. The only problem is the character never shows his face and never speaks. It’s going to be difficult to market a film where the lead character is faceless and mute.

That being said, the film could also feature cameos and supporting characters that could alleviate the problem. We’ll see if the “Snake Eyes” movie is enough to put the “G.I. Joe” franchise back on solid footing.