Rambo: Last Blood is the fifth movie in the Rambo frachise starring Sylvester Stalone as Vietnam War veteran.
The new film will debut this Friday, so let’s dive into some trivia and facts about it!
- Rambo: Last Blood is a 2019 American action thriller film
- It is directed by Adrian Grunberg
- And co-written by Sylvester Stallone
- He also reprises his role as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo
- It is also known as Rambo V and Rambo V: Last Blood
- A sequel to Rambo (2008)
- It is the fifth installment in the Rambo franchise
- It co-stars Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Adriana Barraza, Yvette Monreal, Genie Kim, Joaquín Cosío, and Oscar Jaenada
- The story follows Rambo as he travels to Mexico to save his niece
- Who has been kidnapped by the Mexican cartel
- Plans for a fifth film were announced on and off again since 2008
- With different iterations developed and cancelled
- Until production finally began in October 2018
- With Grunberg directing the film
- Principal photography began in October 2018 in Bulgaria
- It ended in December 2018
- Rambo: Last Blood is scheduled to be released on September 20, 2019, by Lionsgate
- John Rambo has come back to the United States and struggles to make peace with the demons of his past
- However, he travels to Mexico to save his niece who has been taken hostage by the Mexican cartel
- In February 2008, Sylvester Stallone revealed that making a fifth film would depend on the success of the fourth film
- In March 2008, Stallone revealed he was “half-way through” writing Rambo V
- Stating that it would not be another war movie
- With Bulgaria being considered to double as Rambo’s home in Arizona
- In February 2009, Stallone revealed that he’s proceeding with the fifth film
- In August 2009, Millennium Films green-lit the film with Stallone writing, directing and starring
- At that time, the plot focused on Rambo battling human traffickers and drug lords to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.–Mexico border
- In September 2009, Stallone revealed that the film would be titled Rambo V: The Savage Hunt
- The film would have been loosely based on Hunter by James Byron Huggins
- And would have focused on Rambo leading an elite special forces kill team to hunt and kill a genetically engineered creature
- Nu Image/Millennium Films released a poster and synopsis for The Savage Hunt
- In November 2009, it was reported that the plot had reverted to Rambo crossing the Mexican border to rescue a girl who had been kidnapped
- In May 2010, Stallone revealed he was “done” with the character
- At the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Millennium Films and Nu Image advertised Rambo V with posters and handouts
- Following an interview with Stallone for Ain’t It Cool News, in which the director expressed his desire to end the franchise
- In 2011, Sean Hood was hired to write a new script titled Rambo: Last Stand
- In 2012, Hood revealed that Rambo V had been put on hold in order for Stallone to finish The Expendables 2
- Hood also revealed his uncertainty whether the film would be similar to Unforgiven or a passing-of-the-torch
- In August 2013, it was announced that Entertainment One and Nu Image would develop and produce a Rambo TV series with Stallone
- In June 2014, German film company Splendid Films confirmed that Stallone had started writing the script for Rambo V
- With Stallone describing it as his version of No Country for Old Men
- In September 2014, it was revealed that the film would be titled Rambo: Last Blood, with Stallone directing
- In 2015, Stallone and Rambo creator David Morrell re-developed the story for Rambo V
- Stallone wanted a “soulful journey” for the character that Morrell described as a “really emotional, powerful story”
- Stallone pitched the idea to the producers
- But they wanted to proceed with the human trafficking story instead
- Abandoning Stallone and Morrell’s idea
- In 2016, Sylvester Stallone revealed that Rambo V was no longer in production
- In May 2018, Rambo: Last Blood was re-announced and was scheduled to begin filming in September
- With the plot focusing on Rambo taking on a Mexican drug cartel
- As per mediation resolved on August 21, 2019 through Leslie Mackey of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and agreed upon by Avi Lerner of Balboa Productions
- Dan Gordon was awarded a primary “story by” credit for the film
- Stallone was confirmed to be co-writing the script with Matt Cirulnick
- But seemed unlikely to direct
- That same month, Stallone confirmed that the film is scheduled for a fall 2019 release
- In August 2018, Adrian Grunberg was announced as the director
- In September 2018, Adriana Barraza was added to the cast as Maria
- In October 2018, Paz Vega, Yvette Monreal, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Oscar Jaenada, and Joaquín Cosío were cast in the film
- In May 2019, Louis Mandylor, Sheila Shah, Dimitri Vegas, and Genie Kim (aka Yenah Han) were revealed to have been cast without prior announcement
- Principal photography began on October 2, 2018 in Bulgaria
- It was previously scheduled to begin on September 1, 2018
- And before that on October 27, 2014, in Shreveport, Louisiana
- Barraza filmed her scenes in Tenerife (Canary Islands)
- Principal photography was completed on December 4, 2018
- Additional photography took place at the end of May 2019
- Brian Tyler returned to score the film
- A remixed version of “Old Town Road” was used for the trailer
- Rambo: Last Blood is scheduled to be released on September 20, 2019
- Dadi purchased the Chinese distribution rights
- And agreed to an eight-figure co-financing deal
- On July 30, 2019, the MPAA assigned the film an R-rating
- In the United States and Canada, Rambo: Last Blood will be released alongside Ad Astra and Downton Abbey
- And is projected to gross $23- 25 million from 3,500 theaters in its opening weekend
- As of September 19, 2019, critical reception to the film is mixed
- The review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives a score of 50%
- With an average rating of 5.27 out of 10
- Based on 16 reviews from critics
- On Metacritic, the film received “[g]enerally unfavorable reviews”
- With a weighted average of 38 out of 100 based on four critics
- During Cannes 2019, Stallone said he would continue portraying Rambo if the fifth film succeeds
- Grunberg, however, said that Last Blood “closes the circle”
- Hoping it would conclude the franchise
- In September 2019, Stallone confirmed that he has plans for a prequel to the series
- Although he would not reprise the title role, he would like to explore who Rambo was before the war
- Stallone has also spoken with JoBlo.com about his Indian reservation idea for the sixth Rambo film
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