Finnish filmmaker Jalmari Helander (Sisu) has reportedly been tapped to make a Rambo prequel. Sylvester Stallone isn’t thought to be involved.
Millennium Media, the production company behind several modern action franchises such as The Expendables, The Hitman’s Bodyguard and Olympus Has Fallen, is reportedly looking to acquire backing for a Rambo prequel film. If it happens, it will chart the origins of the former Vietnam soldier made famous in the 1980s by Sylvester Stallone.
According to Deadline, Stallone won’t be involved, but things appear to be moving quickly, as an October shoot has already been set for Thailand. The country could well be doubling for Vietnam, with the tale likely to explore (in part at least), the traumatising effects of that war on Rambo’s psyche, adding context to the character’s first screen appearance in 1982’s acclaimed First Blood. (The 1985 sequel Rambo: First Blood Part II, set in Vietnam, was also partly shot in Thailand.)
While you’d be forgiven for thinking this all feels a little cynical, the news that Finnish Filmmaker Jalmari Helander is involved is enough to make it worth a second look. Helander made 2023’s Sisu, a WWII revenge thriller about a solitary prospector who crosses paths with gold-stealing Nazis on a scorched-earth retreat in northern Finland. The film was an absolute joy, and is well worth seeking out if you haven’t had the pleasure. It’s currently streaming on Netflix in the UK, as noted in our guide to the most underrated films on the platform.
A Sisu sequel is coming this November courtesy of Screen Gems, with Helander once again in the director’s chair. As for Stallone, the door is said to be open to the actor returning in some fashion, so there’s hope yet that he might appear.
We’re hoping that the film will hew closer to the taut psychodrama thrills of First Blood – as adapted from the novel of the same name by David Morrell – rather than the later action-focused sequels. Sisu wasn’t exactly a low-key war drama, though, so whether that proves to the case or not, we’ll simply have to wait and see.
