Noah Centineo in Talks to Lead JOHN RAMBO Origins Film For Millennium Media
It looks like Millennium Media has found its young Rambo. Sources tell Deadline that Noah Centineo is lined up to star in John Rambo, an origins story exploring the early years of one of cinema’s most iconic action heroes.
Sisu director Jalmari Helander is on board to direct, working from a screenplay by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani.
While the deal isn’t fully locked, insiders say things are moving in the right direction with plans to shoot this fall in Thailand. Lionsgate is reportedly the frontrunner to distribute, having released the last two Rambo installments and worked with Helander on Sisu.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the film will follow a young John Rambo during the Vietnam War, before the events of David Morrell’s novel First Blood.
The 1982 film adaptation introduced audiences to Sylvester Stallone’s Green Beret veteran, hunted through the mountains by a ruthless sheriff and his deputies, sparking a one-man war. Across five films, the franchise has pulled in more than $800 million worldwide, with 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood earning $92 million at the box office.
When the prequel project was first reported, Stallone was said to be aware but not involved, and that’s apparently still the case. Sources now say the actor has been made aware of Centineo’s potential casting.
The film will be produced by Kevin King-Templeton, Les Weldon, Jonathan Yunger, and Avi Lerner, with executive producers Trevor Short, Dallas Sonnier, and Amanda Presmyk.
Centineo has been building an impressive resume since breaking out in Netflix’s To All the Boys I Loved Before and The Recruit.
He’s set to play Ken Masters in Legendary’s upcoming live-action Street Fighter, starring opposite Jason Momoa and Andrew Koji, directed by Kitao Sakurai for a 2026 release.
Recently, he starred in A24’s Warfare from Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, and in Oscar Boyson’s Our Hero, Balthazar, which premiered at Tribeca and was produced under Centineo’s Arkhum banner.
If things go as planned, John Rambo could be the role that catapults Centineo to full-blown action star status.