Stallones Wild AI Rambo Prequel That Never Was

The use of "AI" in Hollywood filmmaking remains a contentious topic, often misunderstood but always sparking debate. Yet, Sylvester Stallone recently unveiled a pitch so wild, so ambitious, it just might have been the one use of AI everyone could have ironically gotten behind: a 79-year-old Stallone playing an 18-year-old John Rambo in a Vietnam War prequel. What could possibly go wrong?

Image: Lionsgate

The AI-Powered Pitch

In an interview on The Playlist’s Bingeworthy podcast, Stallone explained that he shopped the idea around to studios a few years ago. His vision was to rewind the clock and explore the formative, war-torn years of John Rambo before the events of First Blood.

“AI is sophisticated enough to go through Saigon to see him at 18 years old and basically use the same image,” Stallone argued. “So it isn’t as big a stretch.” The only stretch, one imagines, would be the pre-shoot warm-up for a septuagenarian playing a teenager in a full-blown action movie.

Hollywood's Cold Reception

Unsurprisingly, Stallone revealed that “everyone thought I was crazy.” But why? It's not like audiences have ever been taken out of a movie by questionable de-aging. Surely executives saw the seamless performances of Robert De Niro in The Irishman or Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. There's absolutely nothing strange about seeing elderly actors digitally smoothed over while moving with the physicality of their actual age. The uncanny valley is a myth, right?

If they needed more proof of concept for this so-called TeenBo, they only had to look at Tom Hanks playing his younger self in Here. Sure, that character mostly sits in a living room instead of navigating the jungle with an M60, but the principle is the same.

The Rambo Legacy and Its Complications

To be fair, there are valid reasons not to make another Rambo movie, with or without a digitally de-aged Stallone. The character of John Rambo, once a tragic figure and a commentary on the treatment of war veterans, has devolved over four decades. He's become a caricature of vengeance and bloodlust, a transformation that hit a low point with the reprehensible and jingoistic Rambo: Last Blood, which a Slate review aptly criticized. But putting all that aside, the sheer spectacle of an AI-generated teenage Stallone is undeniably compelling.

The Prequel We're Getting Instead

Sadly, Stallone's bizarrely fascinating vision will not come to life. Instead, Millennium Media is developing a more conventional Rambo prequel. The film will be directed by Jalmari Helander (Sisu) and will star Noah Centineo (Netflix's The Recruit) as the iconic action hero.

Stallone wished the new team well but acknowledged the immense challenge of stepping into such a famous role. “It’s very, very hard,” he said, referencing his own experience with the remake of Get Carter. “Everyone loves the original, and then you’re always fighting that prejudice.” A prejudice, he implies, that would have been completely absent had audiences been treated to his AI-fueled performance.