Rambo 5 Has Found Its Director, And It’s Not Stallone

Slowly but surely, Rambo 5 is finally – finally – beginning to fall into place.

Yes, casting is now officially underway for Sylvester Stallone’s action sequel (codenamed Rambo: Last Blood), in which his beefed-up John Rambo will be coming up against the Mexican cartel.

He won’t be doing so alone, mind you, as the titular hero will be currying favor from an unnamed member of the press as he seeks to dismantle the dangerous trafficking ring responsible for kidnapping his friend’s daughter. Imagine Taken, except on steroids. But who will be calling the shots from behind the camera for the iconic action star’s new effort?

Though some thought that Stallone himself may take on that duty, we’re now hearing that Rambo 5 has tapped Get the Gringo and Narcos director Adrian Grunberg for the job. Given his work and experience with those two aforementioned projects, he seems like a solid choice for the film as it’ll be dealing with similar themes. Not to mention Gringo also featured its fair share of gritty violence carried out by a senior citizen (Mel Gibson). In other words, Grunberg should feel right at home here.

Or at least, we sure hope he’ll be. The last installment in the Rambo franchise, while not terrible, was still a far cry from the greatness of the series’ first two outings and seeing as this is presumably Stallone’s final time in the role, we’re hopeful that he goes out with a bang.

In line with previous reports, filming on Rambo 5 is expected to kick off on September 1st, when Bulgaria and the Spanish Canary Islands will be playing host to Sylvester Stallone’s long-gestating sequel. A release window is yet to be announced, but we’ll let you know once we learn more.