John Rambo has a date with movie theaters again, this time as a younger man. Lionsgate has set the Rambo prequel for June 4, 2027, with Noah Centineo stepping into the role that Sylvester Stallone turned into one of Hollywood’s most durable action archetypes.
The release puts the film in a busy early-summer corridor. It is currently positioned between Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter and the live-action How to Train Your Dragon 2, because apparently 2027 will not be offering audiences much quiet time.
What will the Rambo prequel cover?
The new film, titled John Rambo, is expected to focus on the character’s Vietnam War origins. Beyond that, plot details remain limited.
That setting matters because the earlier films built Rambo’s identity around the trauma of war, isolation, and the difficult return home. The prequel will be working backward from the Rambo audiences already know: damaged, highly skilled, and permanently out of step with civilian life.
Stallone is not expected to appear as Rambo in the movie. He will serve as an executive producer, keeping at least one hand on the franchise he helped define over five films.
His most recent appearance as the character came in Rambo: Last Blood, the 2019 film he co-wrote as a send-off for his version of the role. The movie was poorly received, which is one way of saying the farewell was not exactly met with a parade.
Who is in the cast?
Noah Centineo will play the younger Rambo in John Rambo. Centineo is also set to play Ken Masters in the upcoming Street Fighter movie, giving him two major action-linked roles on the horizon.
The supporting cast includes:
- David Harbour as Major Trautman
- James Franco in an unspecified “small role”
Harbour’s Major Trautman is especially notable, since the character has long been central to Rambo’s military past and emotional wiring. Franco’s involvement is also notable for a different reason: he has not appeared in a major Hollywood film in nearly a decade.
Who is making the film?
John Rambo will be directed by Jalmari Helander, best known for Sisu, a film that also had a certain interest in violent survival against ugly odds. Subtlety may or may not be invited.
The screenplay comes from Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani, who previously co-wrote Black Adam.
The film is also being executive-produced by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo through their production company AGBO. The Russo Brothers remain closely associated with Marvel Studios thanks to their work on several of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s biggest films.
Could Noah Centineo’s Rambo continue beyond this film?
Production on the prequel wrapped earlier this year, but Lionsgate has not announced whether Centineo is expected to return for sequels.
That is the tricky part of reviving Rambo through a younger actor. Across five films, audiences have already seen many of the defining chapters of John Rambo’s life, especially the events after Vietnam and the later years of a man shaped by conflict.
The later movies focused on an older Rambo, which leaves a narrower lane for a younger version unless the studio plans to dig deeper into the war years or unexplored parts of his early life. There is room for that, but the franchise will need more than a familiar bandana and a haunted stare to make the prequel feel necessary.
For now, John Rambo is officially on the calendar for June 4, 2027, with Centineo carrying a role that arrives with plenty of history and very little margin for indifference.
