John James Rambo has been briefed about his next mission.
Per Omega Underground, Sylvester Stallone’s fifth Rambo movie (AKA The Last Blood) has been earmarked for a production start at the beginning of September, when Spain and the nearby Canary Islands will play host to the long-gestating action sequel.
With its arid landscape and sun-scorched terrain, Spain and its neighboring island will be used as a stand-in for the Arizona-Mexico border – a strategy that’s already in place for Tim Miller and Skydance’s redo of The Terminator, another classic ’80s franchise set for a big return in the not-so-distant future.
For John Rambo, though, he’ll soon be staring down the barrel of Mexico’s most violent cartels, as he prepares to journey through hell and high water to rescue one of his friend’s daughters. Well, Liam Neeson did say he was retiring from action movies…
The story of a seasoned veteran being hauled out of retirement for ‘one last job’ is par of the course for Stallone, who revisited his dormant Rocky franchise back in 2006 for a final, admittedly unnecessary fight. On the other hand, Ryan Coogler’s Creed spinoff was able to balance Stallone’s legacy with an entirely new story built around young Adonis Johnson, and the end result is a truly magnificent expansion of one of cinema’s greatest ever series. Here’s hoping Rambo 5 falls into the latter camp.
Also on the cards for Sylvester Stallone is a fourth and presumably final installment in the Expendables franchise, though it seems he’ll be uniting the world’s greatest action heroes without the help of Terry Crews, who bowed out of the ensemble piece due to a clash with producer Avi Lerner.