With production now wrapped for Rambo V: Last Blood, fans are keen to see whether the long-awaited follow-up to 2008’s Rambo can recapture the magic of the series’ heyday, but if Sylvester Stallone had stuck with his earlier plans for a fifth movie in the decades-spanning saga, then this next installment would’ve been a radical departure from the franchise norm.
Earlier today, Screen Rant published a recap of one of the strangest what-ifs in action movie history, and it all concerns an unrealized project that goes by the name of “Rambo V: The Savage Hunt.” Back in 2009, it was reported that John Rambo’s fifth outing would be a loose adaptation of the 1999 sci-fi-horror novel Hunter by James Byron Huggins. The book follows the journey of the appropriately named Nathaniel Hunter as he attempts to track down a mysterious creature that’s been causing trouble somewhere in the Arctic Circle, though in the proposed film, the title character would’ve been switched out for Rambo himself.
Needless to say, this Predator-style tale is a far cry from the hero’s previous adventures, and when a plot synopsis first emerged for the Rambo’s planned monster hunt, longtime fans of the series weren’t too thrilled with the idea. Subsequently, Rambo V: The Savage Hunt was dropped, ultimately paving the way for the upcoming Last Blood.
Nonetheless, Stallone hasn’t yet given up trying to bring Hunter to the screen, with the news breaking a few months ago that the abandoned Rambo sequel would be turned into its own movie. Stallone’s even set to assume the lead role, possibly going back to the Nathaniel Hunter character from the source material. As for Rambo V: Last Blood, no release date has been set yet, but you can expect to see John blasting his way through a new set of (human) foes some time in the fall.