Sylvester Stallone Returning as Rambo for Rambo 5?

While Rambo: Last Stand has been in development forever, and was actually sidelined by the The Expendables franchise, it was believed that the iconic Sylvester Stallone character would return in a new TV series from Entertainment One (eOne) and Nu Image. The actor was not expected to reprise his role as John Rambo, but Stallone was going to help out on the creative side. This was revealed in August of last year. It was announced today that Splendid Media has acquired the rights to Rambo V and will be bringing the character back to the big screen with Stallone returning in the title role.

The official announcement is in German:

Mit Rambo 5 kehrt Sylvester Stallone in seine Paraderolle zurück. Dieses Mal legt er sich mit dem mexikanischen Kartell an. Sylvester Stallone, der auch für das Drehbuch verantwortlich ist, beschreibt den neuen Rambo als seine Version von No Country for Old Men. Produzent ist, wie schon beim letzten 'John Rambo,' Avi Lerner ('The Expendables 1-3').

This translates to:

With Rambo 5, Sylvester Stallone returns in his iconic role. This time he goes up against a Mexican cartel. Stallone, who has also written the screenplay, describes the new Rambo as his version of No Country for Old Men. Like the last film, Rambo 5 is produced by Avi Lerner ('The Expendables 1-3').

Sylvester Stallone last played the character in 2008's Rambo. The film went onto earn $132 million worldwide on a $50 million budget. Rumored to be titled Rambo: Last Stand, the next installment has been in development since 2008, and some of Sylvester Stallone's original ideas for the sequel actually made their way into the first The Expendables. In 2009, it seemed that the writer, director and actor was adapting James Byron Huggins ' novel Hunter as the next sequel.

Here is the synopsis:

John Rambo could track anyone - or anything - on earth. Now the military desperately needs him for a mission that his ultrasensitive instincts tell him he should refuse. A beast is loose somewhere north of the Arctic Circle. It has already decimated a secret research facility and annihilated a squad of elite military guards. And the raging creature is headed south toward civilization, ready to wreak bloody devastation.

It's a job that Rambo and his 22-year-old hunting partner, Beau Brady, can't turn down, but they and a team of highly-skilled special forces kill team discover that the prey is a terror beyond their wildest imagination - a half-human abomination created by a renegade agency through a series of outlawed genetic experiments. It has man's cunning, a predator's savageness, and a prehistoric power that has transcended the ages. And even if Rambo and Beau survive its unrelenting hunger for human blood, they'll still have to confront the grim reality that it may have grown immortal.

Should Sylvester Stallone reprise his role as Rambo on the big screen? Is he too old? Or should Nu Image and Entertainment One (eOne) start over fresh with their TV series?

Topics: Rambo, Rambo 5

Brian B.