One of Sylvester Stallone‘s most iconic cinematic characters, John Rambo, is headed back to the big screen — and for the first time in live-action, he won’t be played by Stallone. The Recruit‘s Noah Centineo will play the young Rambo in John Rambo, a new prequel centering around his formative years as a Green Beret in the Vietnam War. However, we now know that Stallone will be involved in the film.
As announced by Stallone on his Instagram account, he has signed on to executive produce the new film, which began production earlier this year on location in Thailand. The film is directed by Finnish filmmaker Jalmari Helander, who’s garnered extensive praise for his World War II-era action movie Sisu and its sequel, Sisu: Road to Revenge. In addition to Centineo, the film will also star Yao (Sinners), Jason Tobin (Warrior), Quincy Isaiah (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty), Jefferson White (Yellowstone), and Tayme Thapthimthong (The White Lotus). The script was penned by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani (The Mauritanian).
Who Is John Rambo?
John Rambo was created by writer David Morrell in his 1972 novel First Blood; a decorated Green Beret who became a loner and drifter after returning home from the Vietnam War, Rambo reverted to his warlike ways when he was accosted by Will Teasle, the cruel sheriff of a small town police department. His resulting rampage required the intervention of his old commander, Colonel Sam Trautman. The book was adapted into a film in 1982, with Stallone as Rambo, Brian Dennehy as Teasle, and Richard Crenna as Trautman. The movie was a critical and commercial success, and made one major change from its source material; Rambo survives the final confrontation. That resulted in a sequel, Rambo: First Blood Part II; unlike the low-key original, the sequel was a high-octane action movie that sent Rambo back to Vietnam to rescue prisoners of war who’d been kept years after the war’s end by cartoonishly evil Soviets. More sequels, and a Saturday-morning cartoon, followed; Stallone reprised the role for a final time in 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood.
John Rambo isn’t the only upcoming film that will travel into Sylvester Stallone‘s cinematic past. I Play Rocky, directed by Peter Farrelly, will chronicle Stallone‘s attempts to get his script for Rocky made into a feature film. Anthony Ippolito plays the young Stallone in the film, which will be released in theaters nationwide on November 20, 2026.
John Rambo is now in production with Sylvester Stallone as an executive producer; no release date has yet been announced.
via Collider