Stallone Says No More 'Rambo'

There's word from Stallone himself confirming that he’s positive that he’s done with the "Rambo" franchise.

In Empire’s cover feature for "The Expendables," a little time was spent on trying to get to low-down on "Rambo 5" to clear up the confusion about what the plot will focus on, and instead, they got the surprising answer that the project’s not happening after all.

"I think Rambo's pretty well done. I don't think there'll be any more. I'm about 99 per cent sure."

This all started last August when "Rambo 5" was given the greenlight. The plot was rumored to revolve around human trafficking in Mexico. Later, when Stallone first talked about the film, the slant was a little different – the project was then being called "The Savage Hunt." The new plot brought Rambo into science fiction territory as he hunted down a genetically modified super-soldier.

When fan reaction aired on the negative side, the plot was switched back to the Mexican storyline – and "The Savage Hunt" plotline was set as a film outside of the "Rambo" universe.

Although it's unclear why he's decided to stop after developing the sequel for so long, speculation is that he's so confident in other projects like "Expendables" that he doesn't need to rely on that franchise anymore.

So if you're a "Rambo" fan you better be content with the way "Expendables" looks, because that will probably be filling in for "Rambo." Stallone has a few other action projects in development, but it looks like he's finally decided to leave "Rambo" and "Rocky" behind.

What do you think about the "Rambo" franchise seemingly being over?

"The Expendables" opens August 13, 2010.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Screen Rant (1,2), First Showing

'Rambo V' Plot Changes

A while back, Stallone announced that "Rambo V" was in the pipeline. It's plot was to take a decidedly sci-fi turn than previous "Rambo" films had not yet ventured toward.

"Rambo V," which up until now has been tentatively titled "The Savage Hunt," basically has Rambo being sent out to bring down a super-solider turned savage killing machine by a government experiment gone wrong. The official synopsis for the film revealed that this somewhat surprising choice of storyline was actually based on the novel Hunter by author James Byron Huggins.

Sly left a message to his loyal fans over at StalloneZone regarding a change of plot for "Rambo V":

To all the loyal SZoners out there,

I'm letting you know that Rambo has changed course and the story about hunting the man/beast will be done using another character in the lead. RAMBO himself will be heading over the border to a violent city where many young women have vanished.

There will be blood.

From his quote, we know he'll be "heading over the border" into "a violent city." Well, we know he's not going to Canada. So I guess Rambo is heading over to Mexico.
And that's where he'll do what he does best: leave a massive body count in his wake.

While the "Rambo meets Predator" pitch made my geek alarm sound, I've always looked to the Rambo series for insight into the world climate. If Stallone can shed the same light on human trafficking as he did with the crisis in Burma, I'm there. It's like reading a newspaper, except Rambo's ripping up bad guys with a Gatling gun.

What about you? Is it better to keep Rambo in line with the rest of the franchise and save the exploits of Hunter for a different film, or would you like to see Rambo duke it off with a super-soldier?

"Rambo V" has been slated to start production in the spring of 2010.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Screen Rant, Latino Review, UGO Movie Blog, First Showing

'Rambo V'

The plot details for "Rambo V" have been up and down the past 24 hours, but now Sylvester Stallone himself has finally opened up about the plot of the next film. But let's backtrack a little bit...

Almost a week ago it was announced that "Rambo V" is indeed getting made. It was reported at the time that the story of the next Rambo adventure would follow the bad-ass to the Mexican-U.S. border where he’d tear down a bunch of human traffickers and drug lords to rescue some kidnapped girl.

Word then came out from Harry Knowles of AICN that "Rambo V" had a new title, a new poster, and a story about stopping some super-soldier experiments with the Rambo franchise taking a sci-fi twist.

According to Harry, the movie is in fact set in the States as reported earlier but not by the south border as we thought. The movie will see John Rambo back where we first met him in the Pacific Northwest where there’s some sort of secret U.S. Military base working on a super soldier program. At this base, they’re attempting to unleash the “savagery” deep down inside of every person to create human weapons. As expected an experiment goes awry and some super killer is unleashed and this is where Rambo and a Black Ops team is brought in the clean up the mess.
Sly read the reader feedback to the news last night on several sites that over-emphasized the science-fiction aspects of the story for "Rambo V," so he left a message with Harry Knowles at AICN to clear up the details.

In the voice mail, Stallone emphasized that the story is not about him fighting a group super soldiers like in "Universal Soldier," but instead, it’s about him and a team brought in to fight a “savage beast” of a man - A man that represents an “amalgamation of fury and intelligence” (The result of conditioning people from when they were kids onward to make them fearless, intelligent and cunning warriors, a la "300").

This villain’s ability to survive is rivaled only by that of Rambo and that’s what makes the movie interesting. The doctors at this facility couldn’t control this guy’s mind and he became a “savage killing machine.”

He also clarified again that it’s not Rambo battling a squad of super soldiers but instead that it’s like you worst nightmare, “battling your primitive self.”

Head over to AICN to hear the entire message Sly left.
Sly’s idea of this savage beast-like character adds a great element to the nature of the film. Instead of a focus on physical ability and raw killing talent, we’ll be seeing heavy emphasis on the strategic and tactical cunning of John Rambo and this villain, as one hunts the other.

I can’t wait to find out who he has in mind to play the villain of this film and if we see Rambo leading a black ops team, I think it’d be cool to see Matthew Marsden return as the bad-ass sniper (aka, School Boy) from last year’s "Rambo."

What do you think of "Rambo V: The Savage Hunt"?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: Screen Rant

Stallone's 'Rambo 5' Gets the Greenlight

Variety reports that Nu Image/Millennium Films has greenlit "Rambo 5," with Sylvester Stallone starring and directing, repeating his duties from 2008's "Rambo." The storyline will revolve around Rambo fighting his way through human traffickers and drug lords to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.-Mexico border. Production will start in the spring after Stallone wraps up "The Expendables."

This is no real surprise as Stallone has talked about another one since the most recent "Rambo" hit back in September 2008 with a $113 million worldwide box-office take on a $50 million budget.

At the end of that movie he finally returns to his own home in the US. Not only is the story in this sequel relevant to today's troubles, but it works with the way that movie ended, which is thankfully a smart decision.

The first Rambo, titled "First Blood," hit in 1982, and was followed by "First Blood II" in 1985, and "Rambo III" in 1988. I'm sure this next installment will be as badass as all the others.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Screen Rant, First Showing, Rope of Silicon

Next Sly Stallone Movies Might be PG-13

UGO Movie Blog had the chance to explore the set of the upcoming action film "The Expendables" and asked producer Avi Lerner about the movie as well as the rumored "Rambo V."

One of the questions asked was whether "Rambo V" - if it gets made in the first place - will be as violent and brutal as "Rambo" (2008). Avi Responded with a resounding NO, saying that the story in Burma had to be tackled that way, with extreme and brutal violence so that it portrayed an important aspect of what that story is about. He also said that they lost at least half the audience for that film with such a hard R, so neither "The Expendables" nor the "Rambo" sequel will be as brutal. He did, however, say that it is not an "if" but a "when." "Rambo 5" is definitley coming to theaters near you.

There will be both PG-13 and R rated cuts for "The Expendables" and they will test each to decide which to release. "The Expendables" is costing about 80 million dollars, thanks to so many real explosions, the star cast and everything else that goes into making an action flick. The studio wants this film to be a big hit and Avi is hoping to turn it into a franchise - including whoever doesn't die in the first film in subsequent films.

I would rather keep the films rated R because, well, I am a guy and I like action (and these films are catering to those fans, so why not make it R). How about you?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: UGO Movie Blog