Russo Brothers Reload Rambo With Lionsgate and Millennium Media for the Next Chapter

Well, this is a swing: the next Rambo movie is an origin story called John Rambo, set during the Vietnam War, shooting in Thailand, and backed by a not-small army of producers. AGBO — the filmmaker-run outfit from Anthony and Joe Russo — is producing with Lionsgate and Millennium Media. So yes, a lot of heavy hitters want in on this one.

Finnish director Jalmari Helander, the guy behind Sisu, is calling the shots from a script by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani (The Mauritanian, Black Adam). The pitch is pretty straightforward: go back to the beginning and map out what turned John Rambo into, well, John Rambo. And in a bit of a curveball, Noah Centineo (The Recruit) is in final talks to star.

• Title: John Rambo
• Setting/filming: Set during the Vietnam War; filming in Thailand
• Director: Jalmari Helander (Sisu)
• Writers: Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani (The Mauritanian, Black Adam)
• Star: Noah Centineo (The Recruit) in final negotiations
• Producers: Angela Russo-Otstot and Michael Disco for AGBO; Kevin King Templeton, Les Weldon, and Jonathan Yunger for Millennium Media
• Executive producers: Anthony and Joe Russo
• Companies/team-up: AGBO producing with Lionsgate and Millennium Media
• Distribution: Lionsgate has global rights and is taking international sales to AFM (the American Film Market) this month

On the studio side, Lionsgate just locked global distribution and is already shopping it internationally at AFM. Their acquisitions and co-productions EVP, Charlotte Koh, is hyping this as a big-audience play — pairing their long-running partnership with Millennium and AGBO’s action pedigree with Helander’s very in-your-face style.

AGBO’s Chief Creative Officer Angela Russo-Otstot is framing the movie as a character-first take on a very familiar icon, which is the smart way to go if you’re asking fans to accept a new face under that bandana.

'Rambo is one of the most enduring and iconic figures in action cinema and exploring the origins of that mythology is an incredibly exciting opportunity.'

Couple of notes for the curious: yes, Thailand standing in for Vietnam is a classic production move, and yes, casting Centineo is unexpected — but that might be the point if you’re aiming for a younger Rambo before he becomes the human bulldozer we know. With Helander handling the grit and AGBO/Lionsgate/Millennium piling on resources, this is clearly being set up as an event for action fans rather than a modest prequel experiment.