Sylvester Stallone confirms involvement in 'John Rambo' prequel, passes baton to Noah Centineo: 'We're going back'

Sylvester Stallone has officially joined the next ‘Rambo’ movie, but not as its star. Instead, the actor who first played John Rambo in 1982’s ‘First Blood’ will serve as an executive producer on ‘John Rambo,’ the upcoming prequel that tells the character’s origin story. The film marks a major shift for the franchise. After leading the series on screen for decades, Stallone is now backing the story from behind the scenes as the series moves to a younger version of Rambo, played by Noah Centineo.

'John Rambo' prequel movie update

The new development was confirmed through Stallone’s Instagram announcement. In his post, Stallone wrote, “Rambo has been part of my life for a very long time. A character built on resilience, survival, and the scars of war. He's meant a lot to me and to audiences around the world for decades. Now we're going back to where his story begins. I'm excited to be executive producing @JohnRamboFilm, exploring the early chapter of the man before the legend.”

Sylvester Stallone executive producer role in ‘Rambo’

According to Screen Rant, this is the first time Stallone has taken an executive producer credit in the ‘Rambo’ franchise, even though he co-wrote the scripts for the earlier films and directed 2008’s ‘Rambo.’ Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson made clear how important Stallone’s return is to the prequel. He said, “Sylvester Stallone knows the character of John Rambo better than anyone, and Lionsgate has had the good fortune of partnering with Sly for more than 20 years on this legendary IP. His participation is the final, critical piece to John Rambo, and we're thrilled to have his involvement.”

Directed by Jalmari Helander and written by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani, ‘John Rambo’ will follow John J. Rambo during the Vietnam War before the events of ‘First Blood.’ The cast includes Centineo, Yao, Jason Tobin, Quincy Isaiah, Jefferson White, and Tayme Thapthimthong. Production began in Bangkok in January, but the film still does not have a release date.

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