James Franco Joins JOHN RAMBO Prequel as the Film’s Villain Opposite Noah Centineo

The cast of John Rambo just got a lot more interesting. James Francohas officially joined the upcoming Rambo prequel film alongside Noah Centineo, who’s taking on the role of a younger John Rambo.

The movie recently wrapped production in Thailand and is aiming to be an intense expansion of the franchise that first exploded onto screens with 1982’s First Blood starring Sylvester Stallone.

Franco’s role is reportedly small, but he’ll be playing the villain in the film. He joins a cast that also includes David Harbour as Rambo’s commanding officer Major Trautman.

The movie is directed by Jalmari Helander, the filmmaker behind the gloriously over-the-top action movie Sisu, which feels like a pretty perfect match for a brutal Rambo origin story.

Set before the events of First Blood, John Rambo digs into the early years of the iconic character long before he became the haunted drifter audiences met in Stallone’s original film.

The supporting cast includes 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).

News of Franco’s casting arrived while the actor has been making appearances at the Cannes Film Festival alongside longtime girlfriend Izabel Pakzad. He attended the festival’s opening ceremony and later popped up at events including the Chopard dinner and the party for Club Kid.

While speaking with Deadline during the opening night gala dinner, Franco teased that he had recently wrapped work on a mystery “big studio movie,” which turns out to be John Rambo. The actor said the project “won’t be ready for this summer, but my guess is it will be end of this year or spring-summer 2027.”

The film also marks Franco’s return to blockbuster territory after several years away from major studio productions.

During the same conversation, the actor explained that he’s been focused on living a “positive life” following the sexual misconduct controversy tied to allegations involving his now-defunct acting school. Franco denied the allegations but acknowledged that the women involved raised important issues.

The screenplay for John Rambo was written by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani. The project is being produced by Lionsgate, Millennium Media, Templeton Media, and AGBO, with Lionsgate handling distribution. Stallone is a producer on the film along with Anthony and Joe Russo.

If Helander brings even a fraction of the savage action style he delivered with Sisu, this could end up being a seriously cool addition to the franchise.

Source: Variety