Prequel John Rambo has officially begun production in Thailand, with Noah Centineo (not pictured) in the title role. Update: Production has officially begun on John Rambo, a prequel to 1981’s First Blood and the numerous Rambo movies that followed. Sisu director Jalmari Helander made the announcement on the hellsite formerly known as Twitter (via ... John Rambo | Production begins on prequel, Noah Centineo stars
Prequel John Rambo has officially begun production in Thailand, with Noah Centineo (not pictured) in the title role.
Update: Production has officially begun on John Rambo, a prequel to 1981’s First Blood and the numerous Rambo movies that followed.
Sisu director Jalmari Helander made the announcement on the hellsite formerly known as Twitter (via THR). In a lengthy post, he talked about the influence of First Blood on his own filmmaking, and his excitement at making a film about its protagonist’s younger years.
“As we begin production on the origin of John Rambo, we’re going back to the beginning,” Helander wrote. “This is Rambo stripped down, raw and real — a survival story about endurance, persistence and lost innocence.”
Filming will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, with Noah Centineo cast in the lead as the younger John Rambo (once played by Sylvester Stallone) and supporting roles going to Jason Tobin, Jefferson White and Tayme Thapthimthong.
Our original story follows…
12th August 2025: We only heard about the Rambo prequel, currently titled John Rambo, in May, but things are swiftly moving forward in Hollywood. Noah Centineo, whom you might recognise from Netflix’s The Recruit or the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy, has been attached to the film in the title role of John Rambo.
Deadline also has the scoop that the film, directed by Sisu’s Jalmari Helander, is eyeing a 2026 shoot in Thailand. Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani are in charge of the script.
The character of John Rambo stems from David Morell’s novel First Blood and was made famous by Sylvester Stallone on the silver screen. After debuting the character in 1982, Stallone played the veteran Green Beret in five films, the latest one of which was released in 2019. Not only did the Rocky actor play Rambo, he was also a co-writer in all five films.
According to Deadline, Stallone is aware of the new film, but isn’t involved.
Before Helander can get started on John Rambo, there’s the small matter of finishing and releasing Sisu 2. The first film, an unlikely action hit, followed a lone Finnish former commando as he took on an entire platoon of Nazis. No spoilers here, but let’s just say the film isn’t for the faint of heart.
Not much is known about Sisu 2 at the moment and we don’t even have a trailer yet, but the film is supposed to hit cinemas 21st November.
John Rambo is also shrouded in secrecy. It’ll be an origin story and feature a much younger Rambo, but plot details are non-existent at the moment. The original Rambo films explored the Vietnam War Veteran’s traumatised psyche, so perhaps the prequel will delve into just what happened to the Green Beret in the war that led him to have such unique skills.
We’ll bring you more John Rambo – and Sisu 2! – news as they reach our ears.
