Noah Centineo is reported to be cast in a prequel to the Rambo franchise.
Filming is expected to start early next year in Thailand. It will be directed by Jalmari Helander, known for Sisu. The script is being written by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani.
According to Deadline, it will explore the origin story of a young John Rambo set during the Vietnam War, before the events of the 1982 film First Blood.
The first Rambo film is based on David Morrell’s 1972 novel First Blood. It follows a Vietnam War veteran and former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier skilled in weapons and combat. The franchise includes five films: First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Rambo III (1988), Rambo (2008), and Rambo: Last Blood (2019), which together have grossed over $800 million worldwide.
Noah Centineo is known for his roles in “Black Adam,” “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” “The Recruit,” “The Perfect Date,” and more. He is also set to star as Ken Masters in an upcoming live-action adaptation of “Street Fighter.” Most recently, he appeared in A24’s film “Warfare,” directed by Alex Garland.
In February last year, the franchise’s original star, Sylvester Stallone, revealed on The Tonight Show that he wanted to pass the baton of the part to Ryan Gosling.
He said: “I met him at a dinner and obviously we’re opposites. He’s good-looking – I’m not. That’s how it works.
“But he goes, ‘I was fascinated by Rambo, and I used to go to school dressed as Rambo and people would chase me away and I still didn’t stop’.
“He just kept saying that he had a lot of affiliation with Rambo, and I thought, ‘This is interesting. If I ever pass the baton, I’ll pass it on to him because he loves the character’.”