The following bit of info may not fill you up, but like the last piece of octopus on a platter of boring California rolls, I can’t ignore it. I’m a glutton for cool “what if…” scenarios, especially when it comes to Rambo or Rocky, as those are all too rare. And hearing a real one come directly from Sylvester Stallone is unheard of. Stallone is answering fans’ questions over at AICN in correlation with Rambo opening the weekend after Cloverfield, and one fan inquired about Sly’s common admission that he’d like to continue the Rambo franchise beyond this new film, the fourth in the series. Here’s the answer…
I truly can’t tell you yet because I think it would be bad luck, but I think a challenge would be to take the character which has been perceived mostly in a realistic vein and add another element of the surreal that would actually take the audience into a slightly different genre. It’s not like I’m going to turn it into a full on Broadway musical starring the Muppets, but it is ambitious.
So, yeah, cross off Muppets from that list above your water bed, but what does Sly mean by this? There’s already speculation with fans that Rambo might take on Predator, an Alien, or fight a giant anaconda with a token rapper. Obviously, the action genre frequently crosses over into science fiction, or might Sly mean doing a Rambo film in the exaggerated graphic novel style of, say, Sin City or 300?
Wait, that style was already seen with Rambo’s first poster! Imagine Rambo in a jungle drenched in shadow, wielding a massive machete as white rain falls down and the blood flows red like paint? Of course, there were also those flimsy rumors a while back that Sly might sign on to appear in the new Terminator trilogy, but that would be ridiculous, right? Robert Englund recently said that Freddy vs. Jason 2 was on ice, but a battle royale between those three would be send most dancing into the streets like Michael Jackson on fast forward. And Stallone has already declared that he’s not going after Osama, out of respect for those who really are (hopefully).
Personally, I’d be amped for a more surreal Rambo film. I’m a sucker for provocative takes on iconic characters, no matter how grounded they formerly were to reality. Sly has plenty of neat ideas these days for new flicks, and unlike Tarantino, he seems to want to get them realized ASAP. If I missed any other possible interpretations, shout below. And yes, I said “neat.”
