NEWS ARCHIVES
New Rambo in New Year
The latest report from Variety will hopefully put all of our minds at ease regarding the filming of Rambo IV! Take a look:
Principal photography of "Rambo IV: In the Serpent's Eyes" will commence in January in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Stallone returns to play a Vietnam War veteran who's coaxed out of retirement in Thailand for a rescue mission in Burma. Shooting is expected to last at least two months.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117952828.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Rambo may need a Rescue
By Josh Tyler: 2006-10-16
Last week we brought you the news that Sylvester Stallone had signed up to do a fourth Rambo movie for the company Nu-Image. Hold off on your excitement though, Sly may have signed up for a movie that doesn't exist.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the distribution rights to the Rambo property are in question. Nu-Image got the rights from The Weinstein Company in 2004, and have gotten moving on making the film. Meanwhile, they've approached Lionsgate about distributing the movie once it's finished. Weinstein on the other hand, claims that they have first right of refusal on who gets to distribute it, and apparently they don't want it to be Lionsgate since they've filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Where does that leave Rambo's return? Well I guess that depends on how vindictive the Weinsteins are. Judging from the stories that always end up circulating about Harvey, I'd say very vindictive indeed. If The Weinstein Company actually has the right to keep Nu-Image from finding a distributor then they could end up tying this thing up for years. And they might too, just to keep someone else from getting their hands on it.
In The Serpent's Eye
Sylvester Stallone is set to reprise his role of Vietnam vet John Rambo, in the third sequel in the “Rambo” franchise. Stallone will also produce and direct the film based on his own script titled, “Rambo IV: In The Serpent’s Eye.” Production is tentatively slated for January in Thailand.
The next chapter finds Rambo recruited by a group of Christian human rights missionaries to protect them against pirates, during a humanitarian aid deliver to the persecuted Karen people of Burma. After some of the missionaries are taken prisoner by sadistic Burmese soldiers, Rambo gets a second impossible job: to assemble a team of mercenaries to rescue the surviving relief workers.
www.productionweekly.com
8/3/06
Over the last several months, The Unofficial Rambo IV homepage has recieved news from Sly Central reporting on the plot and casting. Unfortunatly for all us Rambo fans, that news was false. However, official news from Entertainment Weekly reveals a new (and far superior) plot and an official date to set filming. Here it is: Rambo Returns.
Sylvester Stallone returns as Rambo -- Another of the actor’s 80s roles is being resuscitated by Mandi Bierly
If watching the Rocky Balboa trailer has you asking how long until Sylvester Stallone resurrects John Rambo — that monosyllabic ex-Green Beret last seen in 1988 shouting profanity at an approaching Soviet army in Afghanistan — you're not alone.
Okay, you may be alone, but we're going to tell you anyway. First announced in 2005, production on Rambo IV (final title to be determined) is finally expected to commence Oct. 1 in Thailand. But while America braces for Balboa's arrival on Dec. 22, Rambo has yet to land a domestic distributor. Why have studios had a tough time picturing the old guy back in battle? Maybe because the writer-director — that would be Mr. Stallone — couldn't figure out which war he'd be waging.
''You know, it's hard,'' says the 60-year-old star. ''Politics have changed so much. Who do we fight? The Finns? You can't do that. The Dutch? That's not gonna work. Wooden shoes are not gonna look cool.'' Stallone may be joking, but finding Rambo a fresh foe was actually a serious problem for the Nu Image/ Millennium Films production. After ruling out the Mideast, Africa, and Korea, the actor finally hit on a solution. ''I called Soldier of Fortune magazine and said, 'What is the most critical man-doing-inhumanity-to-man situation right now in the world? Where is it?''' The answer was Burma.
So, the script that emerged — a ''first draft'' Stallone has written with Art Monterastelli (The Hunted) — finds Rambo living a monastic lifestyle in Bangkok and salvaging old PT boats and tanks for scrap metal. (''It's like he's stripping himself down,'' says the actor, pensively. ''That old piece of military equipment.'') When a group of volunteers bringing supplies into Burma disappears, a relative of one of the missing missionaries begs Rambo to find them. He heads off with a team of young guns, a plot point required by the financiers, who wanted to hedge against Rambo's possible mono-generational appeal.
''It might work,'' Stallone says, laughing. And if not, we can't wait for Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot 2: Granny's Revenge.
(Posted:07/28/06)
7/12/06
Looking Good Rambo
Sly Stallone is looking ready for Rambo IV (set to film very soon). He appears to be growing his hair out as well as continuing to bulk up. Stallone is looking like the John Rambo we all know and love!
7/11/06
Ramb Is Half Way There
On July 11, Stallone fan "Adunk68" had the experience of a lifetime: dinner with Stallone. Over the course of their time, Stallone talked briefly about Rambo IV. He said his hair is at about the half way point for Rambo IV. Also, if you notice in the pictures on the left and bottom left, Sly is looking massive! He is training incredibly hard for Rambo IV! Rambo IV is set to film shortly.
9/6/05
Despite the news that Sylvester Stallone is going to be directing a movie on the great writer Edgar Allen Poe it's pretty certain that the next step in the Rambo franchise is on.
According to Moviehole filming for Rambo IV is set to being in Bulgaria in January 2006 and moving to India and finally the USA. They also have details of the storyline:
According to Stallone, the new plotline sees the character of Rambo as having "assimilated into the tapestry of America", living with his family - including daughter - in relative peace for the past fifteen years but still working for the military, when work pressures force him to move his family to the American outback. The Navajo-Indian former Green Beret and his family are then subject to an attack by white-supremacists, and Rambo has to risk life-and-limb in rescuing his 10-year old daughter from being held hostage.
http://www.themovieblog.com/archives/2005/05/rambo_iv_details.html
11/6/05
It’s “Rambo” fever at the AFM at the moment – as Nu Image seek to interest a few more wallets into unbuttoning their change department in their vicinity.
John Thompson, the head of production at Nu Image/Millennium Films, said :
"We're working on a script right now. We're trying to find the right elements that will bring back the old RAMBO fans and still create enough curiosity to draw in the younger audience, without going through the same old formula of machine-gunning down a bunch of Afghanis or terrorists. We want to come up with something fresh and innovative..."
"This is another chapter in his life. Rambo is still an angry man, but he never wants to get into trouble, he never wants to get into a confrontation and he doesn't want to fight until there is no other choice."
A poster for the Stallone starrer has gone up here.
Meantime, an insider (an agent) has managed to find the wish-list of directors that the studio hopes to coax into directing “Rambo 4”. They are “Blade” helmer Stephen Norrington, “Beverly Hills Cop” great Martin Brest, “The Great Raid” director John Dahl, and “Frequency” director Gregory Hoblit.
Thanks to 'AB King'
http://www.moviehole.net/news/rambo_pops_up_at_the_afm.html
9/6/05
"Rambo IV" Sets Production Start
Source: Dark Horizons
Author: Garth Franklin
The following press release came out over the weekend indicating details of production plans for a fourth "Rambo" movie:
'Rambo IV' begins preliminary shooting in Bulgaria in January 2006, as Nu Image/ Millennium Films acquire film rights from Miramax/ Dimension Films. US-based film production company Nu Image/ Millennium Films have acquired the film rights to the 'Rambo' film franchise from Miramax/Dimension Films, with principal shooting for 'Rambo IV' to begin in Sofia, Bulgaria in January 2006, with filming locations in India and the USA.
Sylvester Stallone, the Italian-American film actor who played the titular role in the 'Rambo' film trilogy, signed with Nu Image/Millennium Films to begin 'Rambo IV' in May 2005, stating that the production company had optioned a book for the new 'Rambo', for which he has adapted a complete script, likening it to vengeance films like 'Deliverance' and 'Straw Dogs'. According to Stallone, the new plotline sees the character of Rambo as having "assimilated into the tapestry of America", living with his family in relative peace for the past fifteen years but still working for the military, when work pressures force him to move his family to the American outback. The Navajo-Indian former Green Beret and his family are then subject to an attack by white-supremacists, and Rambo has to risk life-and-limb in rescuing his 10-year old daughter from being held hostage. Commentators have noted that the premise of the film is similar to one touted by Stallone in 1997, following the Oklahoma bombings, and comparisons have been drawn with the US federal government's attack at Ruby Ridge in 1991, including the role played by former Green Beret Colonel James "Bo" Gritz.
Nu Image Films, the owners of the film rights for 'Rambo', was established in 1992 by Avi Lerner, a veteran film producer from Israel, and has annually produced 15 to 18 low-budget and foreign-sale films. In 1996, Nu Image formed Millennium Films to address the market's growing need for quality art films and higher budget action features. Since 1999, Nu Image has filmed 40 films at their studios in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Millennium Films now has titles on its slate with budgets of up to $68 million. These include Brian De Palma's 'The Black Dahlia,' starring Scarlett Johansson, Josh Hartnett and Hilary Swank, 'Edison,' a film starring Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey and Justin Timberlake, '16 Blocks' starring Bruce Willis and the remake of the 1973 thriller 'The Wicker Man,' starring Nicolas Cage. Nu Image/Millennium Films had a co-production deal with Miramax/ Dimension Films, which had been in place till the Weinstein Brothers left both companies. Nu Image/ Millennium Films acquired the rights to the 'Rambo' film franchise, with their chairman, Lerner, stating that Stallone is "one of the smartest guys I know." Having persuaded Stallone to co-star with a younger actor in 'Rambo IV', Lerner is confident about the film's future success. "It's a franchise," he says. "If No. 4 works, then you have a No. 5." Nu Image recently announced plans to produce Poe, a film about the life and works of gothic author, Edgar Allen Poe, to the screen with Stallone helming the director's chair for the first time since 1985's smash-hit, 'Rocky IV', and scheduled to begin production prior to 'Rambo IV'.
The international scale of Alpha1Media's 'Holy War' treatment has been envisaged as a plausible future instalment for the franchise, with several elements being utilised for 'Rambo IV', including the return to Rambo's Navajo roots and domestication for the super-soldier with wife and family. Miramax Films received the first draft of 'Rambo IV: Holy War' in October 2003, during which the Rambo film saga was still in development hell. In October 2004, Alpha1Media released an early draft of the film treatment on the internet, drawing global fervour and controversy, and reviving interest in the film franchise for producers and audiences alike.
Many of the films released in April and May 2005 have themes and references which featured in the 'Holy War' treatment from October 2003. Sydney Pollack's 'The Interpreter' was set and filmed at the United Nations Building in New York, the scene for much of the action in early drafts of 'Holy War'. Lee Tamahori's 'XXX: State of the Union', about a radical splinter group of American military dissenters attempting to overthrow the United States government shared many thematic concerns as the controversial treatment. Ridley Scott's 'Kingdom of Heaven' is a sweeping epic set during the Crusades, concerned with a medieval 'Clash of Civilisations' in contrast to 'Holy War's contemporary reading. Alpha1Media have been in discussions with Nu Image for a new and revised script treatment for the 'Rambo' film franchise since March 2005.
Acclaimed Indian film actor, Amitabh Bachchan, who had the role of UN Secretary-General Amit Talian in 'Holy War' written specially for him, was appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in New York in April 2005. 'I feel greatly honoured that UNICEF has chosen me to be a Goodwill Ambassador, and to be able to propagate the issues that UNICEF is associated with, in India and elsewhere,' said Mr. Bachchan. Nu Image is also scouting for film locations for 'Rambo IV' in Mumbai and Nagpur, further enhancing speculation that Indian film actor, Hrithik Roshan, will assume the role of Rambo's Afghani-American step-son, Hamid, as intended in the 'Holy War' treatment.
Thanks to 'ABKing'.
