Movies
Nothing is Sacred as ‘Rambo’ is Getting a Reboot
Growing up, the Rambo films were a big part of my childhood. My dad and I would spend a Saturday afternoon watching one or two of the films every few months, simply because I thought they were awesome. It’s only as I grew older that I realized the first film, First Blood, was actually quite brilliant. On top of being darkly humorous, it was a stunning exploration of a soldier’s struggle with PTSD in a world where he isn’t trusted nor is he even honored. The sequels, while action masterpieces in their own rights, never really had the same impact nor scathing wit. Still, I loved them all, including the 2008 fourth entry, which is probably one of the bloodiest movies I’d seen in a while. A fifth film was supposed to happen but Sylvester Stallone, who co-wrote and starred in each of the films (and directed the fourth), decided to retire the character permanently earlier this year.
Still, Hollywood won’t let anything rest in peace and has decided that John Rambo needs to return to the big screen, so they’re doing a reboot called Rambo: First Blood. Written by Brooks McLaren and directed by Ariel Vromen (Criminal), the film will supposedly see Millennium treat Rambo as a James Bond-like character, per THR. No actual plot details have been released as I’m guessing this is still very much in the early pre-production stage. The only other confirmed news is that Stallone will not be starring in this film, although he might have some other kind of involvement.
Look, I love me some Rambo but I’m 100% happy to let the character never have another movie again. Stallone made that character and I can’t see anyone else portray him. It’s like when Jason Momoa played Conan or Jackie Earl Haley played Freddy. Neither ever felt right. Some characters can only be played be one person and that’s that. So c’mon Hollywood, let this one go. Please?
Movies
’28 Years Later’ – Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson Join Long Awaited Sequel
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland (Annihilation, Men), the director and writer behind 2002’s hit horror film 28 Days Later, are reteaming for the long-awaited sequel, 28 Years Later. THR reports that the sequel has cast Jodie Comer (Alone in the Dark, “Killing Eve”), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter), and Ralph Fiennes (The Menu).
The plan is for Garland to write 28 Years Later and Boyle to direct, with Garland also planning on writing at least one more sequel to the franchise – and possibly two more!
No word on plot details as of this time, or who Comer, Taylor-Johnson, and Fiennes may play.
28 Days Later received a follow up in 2007 with 28 Weeks Later, which was executive produced by Boyle and Garland but directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Now, the pair hope to launch a new trilogy with 28 Years Later. The plan is for Garland to write all three entries, with Boyle helming the first installment.
Boyle and Garland will also produce alongside original producer Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice, the former head of Fox Searchlight Pictures, the division of one-time studio Twentieth Century Fox that originally backed the British-made movie and its sequel.
The original film starred Cillian Murphy “as a man who wakes up from a coma after a bicycle accident to find England now a desolate, post-apocalyptic collapse, thanks to a virus that turned its victims into raging killers. The man then navigates the landscape, meeting a survivor played by Naomie Harris and a maniacal army major, played by Christopher Eccleston.”
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) is on board as executive producer, though the actor isn’t set to appear in the film…yet.
Talks of a third installment in the franchise have been coming and going for the last several years now – at one point, it was going to be titled 28 Months Later – but it looks like this one is finally getting off the ground here in 2024 thanks to this casting news. Stay tuned for more updates soon!
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