IESB nabbed the exclusive news that Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are the two writers who will be penning the upcoming sequel to G.I. Joe. If those names sound familiar, it's because just yesterday we reported that the pair will also be penning the upcoming Deadpool movie.

For those keeping count, that means that Reese and Wernick now have G.I. Joe 2, Zombieland 2 AND Deadpool under their belts. Good time to be Reese and Wernick - bad time to be their hands (carpal tunnel alert!).We've known for awhile that G.I. Joe 2 was in the pipeline. The first film, Rise of Cobra, made $300 million at the worldwide box office and the film's "story" was obviously (and unabashedly) geared toward establishing a franchise. So what will Reese and Wernick bring to the table?

I know a lot of you might hear this news and get a tingle of hope that two up-and-coming writers will make G.I. Joe 2 more sensible than G.I. Joe 1 - but pump your brakes for a second and consider this:

  • As far as the studio is concerned, Rise of Cobra worked. Don't expect them to alter the game plan all that much.
  • Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 30 Days of Night) was one of the writers of Rise of Cobra. That guy was pretty well-liked by fans, and still, look how ROC turned out.
  • The G.I. Joe franchise ain't Zombieland. Creative freedom and original storytelling? Slim chance.
  • These guys now have a pretty full plate. Let's hope the demands on them don't affect the quality of the scripts.
GI Joe Cast

Of course, one positive thing going for G.I. Joe 2: no pesky writer's strike to get in the way of the script drafting process this time. People say the 2007 strike was a heavy blow to the films being developed at that time for Summer '09. Guess we'll see soon enough just how true (or not) that is.

I might sound cynical but in the end, I do truly believe the script for G.I. Joe 2 is in good hands. I just know how a movie that starts off with an excellent script and writing team can still ultimately turn out crappy...

More on G.I. Joe 2 as we hear it.

Source: IESB