Years after the Rambo franchise purportedly ended with 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood, Lionsgate is going back to the well with a prequel called John Rambo. The movie will explore John Rambo’s experiences in the Vietnam War, which left him traumatized and ready for 1982’s First Blood, the first film in the series.
For the first time, Rambo will not be played by Sylvester Stallone, although the Tulsa King star will be on board as a producer. Stepping into the role of Rambo is Noah Centineo, who blew up thanks to Netflix’s To All the Boys trilogy of romantic comedies and who has more recently branched out into action franchise fare like 2022’s Black Adam and the upcoming Street Fighter movie. Centieneo will be joined by, among others, James Franco.
Franco seemed to be talking around his part in the film at the Cannes Film Festival, where he told Deadline he’d recently wrapped a role in a “big studio movie.” John Rambo, helmed by Sisu director Jalmari Helander, recently finished production in Thailand.
James Franco raises his hands in Rise of the Planet of the Apes20th Century Fox
According to Variety, Franco’s role in John Rambo is “small,” although the fact that he’s in it at all represents a shift in his career. At one point, Franco was among the biggest stars in Hollywood, starring in franchise films like Spider-Man and Planet of the Apes as well as intimate dramas like 127 Hours and cult comedies like Pineapple Express. He even hosted the Oscars alongside Anne Hathaway in 2011.
But that came to a halt in 2018, when accusations of sexual misconduct concerning Franco’s behavior at his now-defunct acting school gained traction. He did little to no screen work for several years, to the point where we wondered if we’d ever see him (and whether we should ever see him) onscreen again.
But that period has ended, and John Rambo is just one of several new film projects Franco has lined up; others include a role as a detective in the film Golden State Killer, a part in the mob thriller The Razor’s Edge, and even a role as Fidel Castro in the movie Castro’s Daughter. Like Mel Gibson before him, Franco’s comeback proves that Hollywood cancellations usually only last so long.
At Cannes, Franco said that he has been focusing on living a “positive life” following the allegations, which he denied; although he did acknowledge that the accusers raised important points.
David Harbour with a moustache in HBO series DTF St. LouisHBO
As for John Rambo, Franco and Centineo will star alongside Yao (Sinners), Jason Tobin (Warrior), Jefferson White (Yellowstone), Quincy Isaiah (Winning Time), Tayme Thapthimthong (The White Lotus), and David Harbour (Stranger Things), who will play the role of Colonel Samuel R. “Sam” Trautman, previously played by Richard Crenna in First Blood. Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani wrote the screenplay.
There’s no release date set for John Rambo as of yet, but Franco himself guessed that we’d see it by the “end of this year or spring-summer 2027.”
Director
Jalmari Helander
Writers
Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani
Producers
Kevin King Templeton, Les Weldon, Michael Disco, Angela Russo-Otstot