Sly? For the love of Gob - why?

Stallone resurrecting Rocky, then Rambo
Last Updated Mon, 31 Oct 2005 11:48:48 EST
CBC Arts

After bringing his classic boxer character Rocky Balboa out of retirement, Sylvester Stallone is set to resurrect avenging former soldier John Rambo.

U.S. production companies Millennium Films and Emmett/Furla Films have announced that the 59-year-old Stallone has signed on for Rambo IV, which is scheduled to begin filming in Mexico and the U.S. next spring.

The $50-million new film will recapture the rawness of First Blood, which launched the action franchise in 1982, Ben Nedivi of Millennium Films told the Associated Press.

The screenplay is reportedly still at an early stage and no director is attached to the project.

According to trade publication The Hollywood Reporter, the plot of the upcoming instalment involves the reclusive former Vietnam veteran being lured back into action when a young girl is kidnapped.

The three previous Rambo films grossed a total of $614 million US worldwide.

Stallone, whose most recent projects included producing the little-watched boxing reality show The Contender and spearheading Sly magazine, is already working on the sixth film in his Rocky franchise.

Earlier this month, MGM, Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios announced that Stallone has written and will direct and star in the upcoming film Rocky Balboa, which is scheduled to begin shooting in Philadelphia and Los Angeles in December.

At the time, Revolution Studios founder Joe Roth said that this new film takes audiences back to the original, gritty tone of Rocky, which won three Academy Awards in 1976. In Rocky Balboa, the boxer comes out of retirement to fight several low-profile matches but is eventually drawn into a highly publicized comeback bout with the reigning heavyweight champ.

"As a past champion, Rocky Balboa is once again a regular guy who has to find himself and deal with real life. This film brings Rocky's story full circle," Roth said in a statement.

Stallone had been trying to make a sixth Rocky instalment for years.

The Rocky and Rambo films vaulted Stallone to international status as one of the biggest action heroes of the 1980s. The monosyllabic, anti-social, underdog leads he portrayed soon became two of the most popular action characters in U.S. film history.

Stallone's more recent movies – including Cliffhanger, Demolition Man, Judge Dredd, Assassins, Get Carter and Driven – have not been as well received as his "classic" roles.

Is nothing sacred anymore? Has everything been reduced to money and ROIs? Why do they insist on resurrecting the past and changing history all the time? I can't stand this crap anymore! Sly was never a very good actor, his movies are mediocre, and yet Hollywood still gives him license to spit out more franchise drivel? It's madness, I tells ya!