You can’t say that Sylvester Stallone isn’t consistent: having returned to the fertile ground of the Rocky and Rambo franchises, he may now be bringing back 1980s hit Cobra as a television show.
The multi-hyphenate star is reportedly developing the film, which grossed $150 million at the box office, as a series. For those who don’t recall, Stallone played the brilliantly named LA cop Marion “Cobra” Cobretti taking on a secret society named New Order (sadly not the band). Although not as iconic as some of Stallone’s bigger hits, Cobra‘s box office success makes it surprising that it never received the franchise treatment.
A good 1980s action series is rarely down forever, though, given the recent talk of a Lethal Weapon 5. Asked about the prospect of a Cobra reboot at a Q&A, Stallone remarked:
“That (conceit) was what if Bruce Springsteen had a gun? “That was rock n’ roll meets drama. That should have been another franchise because that character was so cool. And I blew it. My personal life got in the way. But we’re trying to bring it back as a streaming TV series. Bring out the zombie squad. I’m long gone, but the idea is really good.”
The “personal problems” Stallone references are almost certainly his 1987 divorce from Cobra co-star Brigitte Nielsen. The pair seemed on good enough terms to reunite in Creed 2, although it’s probably unlikely they’ll revive their onscreen relationship.
The ‘Stallone-aissance’ (Sly-aissance’?) is in full swing though, with the star promoting several projects at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. Whether Cobra is the 1980s revival we currently need right now, or even deserve, is debatable. However, to give credit to Stallone, when on form he’s a canny filmmaker capable of delivering emotional spectacle.
Even if Cobra never ends up going into production though, we’ll at least have Rambo V: Last Blood to look forward to when it hits theaters on September 20th.