Stallone just drew first blood (or in this case – fifth blood?) as to whether or not we’ll be seeing the grizzled Vietnam veteran again.
Sylvester Stallone will reprise his role as John Rambo for the upcoming film, Rambo V. Stallone revealed the news on his Instagram, showing a teaser poster with graffiti of a silhouette of the titular character and the title of the film along with a fall 2019 release date. In the post, Stallone says, “Something wicked is coming this way!”
Stallone will be working on the script and Avi Lerner (Expendables) will produce along with his film company, Millennium Media. The company plans to sell the international rights for Rambo V at the Cannes film festival. Shooting for the film will start in September.
The plot of the new installment sees John Rambo crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to rescue the daughter of one of his friends from kidnappers. Once there, he will be up against an extremely violent and dangerous Mexican drug cartel.
There are rumors that Stallone himself will direct the new feature, but it’s unlikely. He directed the previous installment in the franchise, 2008’s Rambo, and is currently working on Creed II.
The Rambo series has become an 80’s pop culture staple, starting with First Blood back in 1982. Since then, there has been 3 sequels (soon to be 4), an animated series, comic books, toys, and even a Bollywood remake.
It is, without a doubt, a very popular franchise, but there is a serious elephant in the room for the upcoming sequel: Stallone’s age. Right now, the man is 71. He’ll be reprising the role of a character that is physically demanding to play. However, his age hasn’t stopped him from taking on roles in the Expendables franchise and current Rocky films, both of which required a substantial amount of physical commitment.
Hopefully he can pull it off again and deliver a solid, and possibly last, portrayal of Rambo.
