Lionsgate has officially announced the start of production on John Rambo, director Jalmari Helander’s (Big Game, Sisu) prequel to the action classic First Blood, with upcoming Street Fighter star Noah Centineo stepping into the combat boots of Sylvester Stallone’s iconic one-man fighting force.
“When I was eleven, I saw First Blood for the first time, and it changed my life,” states Helander in a statement announcing the start of principal photography. “Rambo wasn’t just a film to me—it stayed with me growing up and was a defining influence on why I wanted to become a filmmaker.”
“As we begin production on the origin of John Rambo, we’re going back to the beginning,” he continued.“This is Rambo stripped down, raw, and real—a survival story about endurance, persistence, and lost innocence. It’s an honor to shape this next chapter with deep respect for the character and the legacy, and to bring audiences the start of John Rambo’s journey.”
Joining Noah Centineo in the cast of John Rambo are yao (Sinners), Jason Tobin (A Thousand Blows), Quincy Isaiah (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty), Jefferson White (Yellowstone), and Tayme Thapthimthong (The White Lotus). The official synopsis reads:
John Rambo takes audiences back, years before the events of First Blood, diving deep into the roots and experiences that forged one of the big screen’s most enduring and complex characters.
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