Spider-Man, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and 127 Hours star James Franco has joined the cast of John Rambo. The actor will star in the prequel alongside Noah Centineo as Rambo (taking over from Sylvester Stallone) and David Harbour as Major Trautman.
According to Variety (via ActioNewz.com), Franco will have "a small role as a villain in the film," marking his first major studio project in several years.
Jalmari Helander is directing John Rambo, which is billed as an origin story for the title character set years before 1982's First Blood. The movie recently wrapped production in Thailand, and also stars Yao (Sinners), Jason Tobin (A Thousand Blows), Quincy Isaiah (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty), Jefferson White (Yellowstone) and Tayme Thapthimthong (The White Lotus).
Franco, who is currently at the Cannes Film Festival, recently revealed that he'd wrapped a role in a "big studio movie," noting that it "won't be ready for this summer, but my guess is it will be [the] end of this year or spring-summer 2027."
The actor took a step back from Hollywood after a sexual misconduct scandal following allegations of abuse of power and inappropriate behaviour towards actresses in his acting school. He denied the allegations, but still found himself cancelled, much to the chagrin of his fans.
"It's not true I've been hiding out," Franco recently said. "I've been here the last three or four years running, selling things, and they treat me well, and I get to go and see great movies."
Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani penned the screenplay for John Rambo. Lionsgate is distributing the movie, which includes Avengers: Doomsday directors Anthony and Joe Russo among its producers. Stallone will also produce, a first for him, on the series that's grossed over $819 million at the worldwide box office. He contributed to the scripts of the past instalments and even directed 2008's Rambo.
Adam Fogelson, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair, previously said, "Sylvester Stallone knows the character of John Rambo better than anyone, and Lionsgate has had the good fortune of partnering with Sly for more than 20 years on this legendary IP. His participation is the final, critical piece to John Rambo, and we’re thrilled to have his involvement."
There's already a lot of excitement surrounding Franco's villainous role in the project, and it will be interesting to see what this leads to. While he has continued to act over the past couple of years, this is his first blockbuster in over a decade.
John Rambo doesn't have a confirmed release date, but is expected to arrive in theaters next year.