Sylvester Stallone had controversial idea to jumpstart prequel to Rambo franchise

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Sylvester Stallone recently shared his idea to bring back one of his famous characters using artificial intelligence, and explained the negative reaction he got in response.

The 79-year-old actor shared on the Bingeworthy podcast that his colleagues doubted his plan to use artificial intelligence to create a younger version of John Rambo – specifically, an 18-year-old Rambo – for a new prequel film, with him playing the lead role.

‘Everyone thought I was crazy,’ Stallone said.

As someone who keeps a close eye on how technology impacts creativity, I’ve been fascinated by the recent discussions around AI and iconic characters. A truly talented actor, nominated for an Academy Award three times, recently pointed out something really interesting: AI is now sophisticated enough to convincingly portray a character’s earlier years – even *before* we first met him in the classic 1982 film, *First Blood*. It’s amazing to think about how we can explore a character’s full history with this technology.

Stallone explained that AI can recreate a person’s appearance from the past with remarkable accuracy – even using a single image from their youth, like one of him at 18 in Saigon. He believes this makes the recent deepfake videos less surprising.

Noah Centineo is set to star as John Rambo in a new film. Jalmari Helander will direct, and Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani are writing the screenplay.

Sylvester Stallone acknowledged that this new role will be a tough one for the 29-year-old actor, who previously appeared in films like Black Adam, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and The Recruit.

‘It’s very, very hard,’ Stallone said.

Oh my gosh, he was talking about taking over a role someone else *already* made famous, and it totally hit home! He’s from New York, you know, and he was explaining how unbelievably hard it is for an actor to try and fill those shoes. It’s like, everyone already has an idea of how the character *should* be, and you’re walking into a minefield trying to make it your own. He used a specific part he played as an example, and it just really showed how much pressure they’re under!

Stallone acknowledged the new actor might do a great job, but said he’s confident they’ll succeed because he faced a similar situation with his 2000 remake of ‘Get Carter,’ which originally starred Michael Caine.

The movie star, known for action roles, explained that it’s hard to follow up a beloved original because people are often biased towards it.

Sources say filming for the action movie is scheduled to begin in Thailand early next year.

The storyline of the movie will focus on a teen Rambo as he fights in the war in Vietnam War.

The five Rambo movies – including the original *First Blood* from 1982, as well as *Rambo: First Blood Part II* (1985), *Rambo III* (1988), *Rambo* (2008), and *Rambo: Last Blood* (2019) – have collectively earned over $800 million at the global box office.

Stallone has been ‘aware of the project but was not involved,’ sources told the outlet.

Back in 2022, Stallone discussed the possibility of bringing the character back with The Hollywood Reporter.

He believes the project will move forward. He envisions it similar to a Ken Burns-style documentary, like the one on Vietnam, but with a fresh take. The idea is to show the character’s transformation – starting with a young, popular, and athletic protagonist, and then revealing the events that lead him to become the character we know as Rambo.

‘But what they want to do is a modern-day story where I pass the torch. That’s getting close.’

Sylvester Stallone stars in the Paramount+ series *Tulsa King*, which also features Martin Starr, Jay Will, Vincent Piazza, Garrett Hedlund, and Dana Delany.

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2025-09-22 04:18