The companies have Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, who wrote the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies as well as Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, writing a script for what is described as an ensemble piece.

One of the characters in the currently untitled project is said to be Chuckles, who has not appeared in the previous Joe movies. While he is not the center of the film, the project is in deep development and things could change.

Chuckles is a character from the 1980s line of action figures who first debuted in 1987 and in the beloved Marvel Comics that same year in issue #60. The character is known for his undercover and infiltration work.

Joe, after The Transformers and The Lego Movie franchises, has been one of the more successful toys-to-screen adaptations, with two movies under its belt. While the brand has cooled in recent years, moviewise, Paramount is in the process of redeveloping it with not just a mainline team movie, but with various spinoffs focusing on key characters. Snake Eyes is in preproduction with an Oct. 16, 2020, release date.

Appelbaum and Nemec are best know for their television credits, having worked on Alias and as co-creators on a slew of shows including Life on Mars and Zoo.

Their work on Alias and Ghost Protocol did feature plenty of spy craft and undercover shenanigans, making them a natural for the project in the eyes of execs. The duo are also working on Rainbow Six, the Tom Clancy-based anti-terrorism thriller set up at Paramount with Michael B. Jordan producing.

Appelbaum and Nemec are repped by WME and Sloane Offer.