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Noah Centineo is headed to the jungle in a prequel to Sylvester Stallone’s classic Rambo action movie franchise.
The To All the Boys actor will do more kicking than kissing as he plays the young version of Green Berets soldier John Rambo, who first appeared in author David Morrell’s 1972 novel, First Blood, and was played by Stallone in five blockbuster movies. Jalmari Helander — the director behind groundbreaking action hit Sisu — was hired by producers Millennium Media in March 2025 to bring an origin story by Black Adam writers Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani to life.
“When I was 11, I saw First Blood for the first time, and it changed my life,” Helander said in January 2026. “Rambo wasn’t just a film to me — it stayed with me growing up and was a defining influence on why I wanted to become a filmmaker. As we begin production on the origin of John Rambo, we’re going back to the beginning.”
The filmmaker went on, “This is Rambo stripped down, raw and real — a survival story about endurance, persistence and lost innocence. It’s an honor to shape this next chapter with deep respect for the character and the legacy, and to bring audiences the start of John Rambo’s journey.”
Keep scrolling for more information about John Rambo below.
Who Is Starring in ‘John Rambo’?
Noah Centineo leads the cast of John Rambo as the young version of the military hero played by Sylvester Stallone in five previous movies.
While Centineo is best known for his rom-coms To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and The Perfect Date, he portrayed a Navy SEAL in 2025’s Warfare and will next battle M. Bison’s forces of evil as Ken Masters in the upcoming Street Fighter reboot.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed in January 2026 that Centineo will share the screen with Sinners star Yao, Quincy Isaiah (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty), Jason Tobin (F9), Jefferson White (Yellowstone) and Tayme Thapthimthong (The White Lotus). Their roles will be disclosed at a later date.
What Do We Know About the ‘John Rambo’ Plot?
John Rambo is set several years before the original First Blood novel and its 1982 movie adaptation starring Sylvester Stallone. First Blood takes place in the aftermath of Rambo returning home from the Vietnam War, so the prequel will naturally explore his wartime exploits.
In November 2025, John Rambo director Jalmari Helander addressed the ways his prequel will differ from other entries in the franchise.
“Of course, it’s different, because we’re gonna start in a place where everything is basically pretty okay for Rambo,” Helander told GamesRadar+. “He’s happy and younger and all that, because we are telling the origin story.”
The director continued, “What would happen to him? Why did he become that kind of dude that we’ve all seen in First Blood? So it’s different.”
Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president Erin Westerman offered a bit more information on how John Rambo will approach its earlier timeline.
“We’re thrilled to start production on John Rambo, which will allow both new audiences and existing fans to explore John Rambo’s roots, his principles, and most importantly, some incredible action, courtesy of Jalmari’s singular vision,” Westerman told The Hollywood Reporter in January 2026. “And we’re so excited for Noah’s committed and powerful performance to show what forged this character into legend.”
What Has Sylvester Stallone Said About ‘John Rambo?’
Sylvester Stallone has been supportive of a John Rambo prequel in the past — though he revealed to ScreenRant in September 2025 that he originally wanted to use AI to play a younger Rambo himself.
“I wanted to do the first AI … not retroactive … but I wanted to rewrite history of the earlier Rambo because I wanted Rambo to be the nicest guy in the school, the valedictorian, the prom king, and all that stuff,” he revealed. “And when he goes to Vietnam, he thinks it’s going to be a three-week hit-and-run, and you see him being tortured and captured, his friends murdered, one thing after another, and [his] life in Saigon.”
Stallone added, “That’s how I became the way I became, but originally I was bon vivant — that kind of thing. And I thought, ‘We could do this with AI,’ but [we] procrastinated too long and they took it over and, I hope, you know, good luck.”
Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo Lionsgate/Courtesy Everett Collection
In February 2024, Stallone revealed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that Ryan Gosling was his preferred choice to play a young John Rambo.
“[Ryan] 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. I’d vacation as Rambo,’” Stallone told host Jimmy Fallon. “He just kept saying that he had a lot of affiliation with Rambo.”
The action star then teased, “I thought, ‘You know, this is interesting. If I ever pass the baton, I’ll pass it on to him because he loves the character.”
A Rambo prequel starring Gosling never came to pass, as Noah Centineo was unveiled as the franchise’s new lead in August 2025, reported Deadline.
When Will ‘John Rambo’ Be Released?
No release date has been announced for John Rambo yet. Production kicked off in Bangkok, Thailand, in January 2026.
