Fox and Sylvester Stallone Are Turning ‘Rambo’ into a TV Show
As John Rambo might say, “Fox drew New Blood!”
A long-in-the-works Rambo TV series is one step closer to reality. After several years in development, the show has landed at Fox, which just gave a script order to the drama project.
Rambo: New Blood will center on the strained relationship between Rambo and his son J.R., a former Navy SEAL. Jeb Stuart, whose credits include writing the screenplay to the feature Die Hard, is on board to write and executive produce.
Sylvester Stallone, who played Rambo in four movies between 1982 and 2008, is on board as an executive producer on Rambo: New Blood.
When word of a Rambo show first trickled out in 2013, Stallone’s publicist vehemently dismissed the idea of Stallone having any on-camera involvement in the show; it’s unclear if that has changed.
Stallone is currently earning raves for his return as Rocky Balboa in Creed. Stallone’s other TV credits include executive producing NBC’s upcoming fitness reality show Strong, as well as the 2004 NBC competition The Contender.
John Rambo, first introduced in the 1972 novel First Blood, is a former Green Beret and Vietnam War vet turned mercenary.
Entertainment One (eOne) is the studio on Rambo: New Blood, producing along with Millennium Films.
A Rambo series has been in the works for several years, with this iteration dating back to 2013. That’s when Entertainment One first partnered with Millennium Films to develop the show. The original plan by eOne and Millennium was to sell the show overseas before bringing it back to the U.S.
Millennium Films and its parent company, Nu Image, first acquired rights to the Rambo franchise in 2005. Nu Image/Millennium then produced the last installment of the film series, Rambo, in 2008.
Nu Image/Millennium chairman and founder Avi Lerner is on board to also executive produce Rambo: New Blood with Stallone and Stuart. Also, eOne TV’s executive vice president of global production, Carrie Stein, will oversee Rambo: New Blood for the studio.
Rambo: New Blood actually represents the second film adaptation from Stallone and Lerner to be set up at Fox. The two executive producers are also looking to turn their hit movie franchise The Expendables into an event series at Fox.
As first revealed in March, Stallone and Lerner are on board to executive produce Fox’s The Expendables along with Shane Brennan (NCIS), who is on board as showrunner.