More than 40 years after originating the role in First Blood (1982), Sylvester Stallone doesn’t seem all that ready to say goodbye to Rambo.
With Noah Centineo in talks for a Rambo prequel, the 3x Oscar nominee and one of Trump‘s Special Ambassadors for Hollywood recently revealed that he pitched his own “sophisticated” AI de-aged portrayal for an installment about a teen Rambo.
“Everyone thought I was crazy,” said Stallone on The Playlist‘s Bingeworthy podcast. “AI is sophisticated enough to go through Saigon to see him at 18 years old and basically use the same image. So it isn’t as big a stretch.”
Amid Centineo’s potential casting in Millennium Media’s package for John Rambo, directed by Jalmari Helander from a script by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani, Deadline reported that Stallone was aware but not involved.
Stallone cautioned anyone taking on the role during his podcast appearance. “It’s very, very hard. He may do a stellar job, but you’re overcoming this because I went through it with Get Carter. Everyone loves the original, and then you’re always fighting that prejudice,” he explained.
Sylvester Stallone attends the ‘Tulsa King’ Season 3 premiere on Sept. 16, 2025 in New York City.
Kristina Bumphrey/Variety
The prequel’s plot is under wraps, but it will explore the origin story of a young John Rambo during the Vietnam War. Created by David Morell in his novel First Blood (1972), Stallone play the veteran Green Beret in five movies, generating more than $800 million worldwide; the most recent, 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood, produced by Millennium and Sly’s Balboa, made $92M at the box office.
Sources tell Deadline the plan is to shoot the Rambo prequel at the top of 2026 in Thailand. Releasing the last two pics in the franchise, Lionsgate is the front-runner to land the package.
