'Rambo' TV Series in the Works at Fox


by Lesley Goldberg
It's unclear whether Sylvester Stallone will have an on-screen role though he will executive produce the drama.

Hot on the heels of Rocky box office follow-up Creed, Fox is targeting a reboot of Rambo with Sylvester Stallone.

The network is teaming with the franchise's star for Rambo: New Blood, a potential TV series based on the Rambo feature films with Stallone on board to exec produce, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. It's unclear whether Stallone will have an on-screen role in the drama, which revolves around Rambo and his son.

Written by Jeb Stuart (Die Hard, The Fugitive), the Rambo TV series hails from Entertainment One and Avi Lerner's Millennium Films. The project explores the relationship between Rambo and his son, J.R., a former Navy SEAL who has never been featured in any of the Rambo movies. Rambo would be a central character in the potential series, a change from CBS' one-time Beverly Hills Cop reboot that centered on Axel Foley's son, with star Eddie Murphy only attached for infrequent appearances.

The deal comes two years after eOne and NuImage/Millennium Films signed a deal to develop and co-produce a TV series based on the Rambo property. At the time, the companies said they were in negotiations with Stallone to be involved both on-screen and as part of the creative team, though a Stallone representative told THRat the time that he wouldn't reprise his famed role as John Rambo.

The potential TV series comes as the fifth installment in the Rambo film series, Rambo: Last Blood, had been put on hold. For Fox, meanwhile, the Rambo revival arrives as the network also is developing a limited series based on the Stallone-starring Expendables franchise.

Fox's Rambo will be produced by eOne, Millennium Films with Stuart, Stallone and Lerner on board to exec produce. eOne exec vp Carrie Stein will oversee.

Rambo becomes the latest movie-to-TV revival as broadcast, cable networks and streaming services look for known properties in a bid to break through the cluttered original scripted programming marketplace. NBC is readying a series based on Taken, and revivals of features including Lethal Weapon (Fox), Behind Enemy Lines (Fox), Training Day (CBS) and My Best Friend's Wedding (ABC) are also in the works. Key to their success is having the original producers involved, which Rambo has in spades with Stallone.

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