Yesterday, we reported on news that Sylvester Stallone may not be proceeding onward with a Rambo 5 as was expected. The news originated from Sheryl Main, the publicist for The Expendables, who wrote on her blog that Stallone had dropped a "bombshell" on her a few months ago that there would be no Rambo 5 and that she'd update us on what his next project would be later.

Now we've got word from Stallone himself, confirming that he's almost positive that he's done with the Rambo franchise. In Empire's cover feature for The Expendables, a little time was spent on trying to get to low-down on Rambo 5 to clear up the confusion about what the plot will focus on, and instead, they got the surprising answer that the project's not happening after all.

“I think Rambo’s pretty well done. I don’t think there’ll be any more. I’m about 99% sure”

If you remember, this all started last August when Rambo 5 was given the greenlight. After that, it became a mess of confusion for journalists and fans as to what the story would be about. Initially it was reported that the movie would center on Mexican drug dealers and human traffickers, but soon after we found out it was about Stallone fighting some sort of beast, a result of super-soldier experimentation. The movie was to be titled Rambo V: The Savage Hunt.

Needless to say, we were all confused and taken aback by how extreme this sounded compared to the four Rambo movies to date and especially compared to the Mexico storyline we first heard about. Stallone tried to clear up the matter the day after by explaining in a voicemail that it wasn't super-soldiers he and his black ops team would be fighting, but a savage beast of a man whose survival skills rival that of Rambo, and that was what would of made the film interesting.

When the official Rambo V synopsis released, it was evident that the film was to be based on the novel titled Hunter by author James Byron Huggins, the same novel that was optioned a while back to be a film with Stallone as the star. They were just going to re-work the story under the Rambo banner.

Things were starting to get as clear as they could be finally... until in November we heard it might be back in Mexico again with a change in the story. That's the last we heard and it's neither here nor there anymore.

“I was going to do it... I said I’d never talk about this, but with I feel that with Rocky Balboa, that character came complete circle. He went home. But for Rambo to go on another adventure might be, I think, misinterpreted as a mercenary gesture and not necessary. I don’t want that to happen."

As fellow Screen Rant writer Niall Browne pointed out yesterday, it's hoped that The Expendables will be successful at the box office so that they can extend that into a franchise with sequels. If that's the case, The Expendables will be filling the gun-toting heavy-action void in Stallone's future and he could continue with Rocky 7 as he hinted at as a possibility after shooting Rambo V.

If this is the case and we never get another Stallone Rambo movie, I think I might be a little disappointed. As crazy as it sounded, I wanted to see Rambo finally meet his match and it would've been neat seeing him do it on his home turf of the Pacific Midwest, where the character originated. Rambo vs. the beast could of been the way out, to end the character and the franchise.

What do you think about the Rambo franchise seemingly being over?

The Expendables opens August 13, 2010.

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Source: Empire