Sylvester Stallone’s new thriller Samaritan gets a Fall 2020 release date. He was one of the biggest action stars of the 1980s, and Stallone proves he still has plenty of star power to burn with his latest movie Rambo: Last Blood, the fifth film in the long-running series that began with 1982’s First Blood and reached its violent zenith with 1985’s Rambo: First Blood Part II.
Of course, Stallone is known for carrying not one but two iconic franchises, also playing Rocky Balboa in eight movies including Creed and Creed II. The sequel-loving actor also heads up the action-packed Expendables movies, and recently revealed that he’s gone to work writing a fourth movie in the series. As if that weren’t enough, Stallone has also now appeared in three Escape Plan films, the latest of which was released in 2019 with Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista on board as co-star. Occasionally, Stallone even finds time to appear in non-franchise movies like the upcoming Samaritan, an MGM production described as a “dark” superhero movie. Production on the movie is set to begin next year.
As reported by Deadline, Stallone’s superhero turn Samaritan has now received a release date of November 20, 2020. That puts the film up against Sony’s Happiest Season starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis, as well as unrevealed releases from Warner Bros. and Amblin Partners, plus the wide release of Tom McCarthy’s untitled thriller starring Matt Damon.
Directed by Julius Avery (Overlord), Samaritan concerns a young boy who sets out to find a mythical superhero (Stallone) who disappeared 20 years earlier after a battle with a supervillain. Though the film does indeed involve a superhero character, this one falls in the category of a “grounded” superhero film like Brightburn or Glass, rather than qualifying as an epic film in the Marvel mode. Stallone’s only actual brush with the world of modern-day big-budget comic book filmmaking of course came in 2017 when he played Stakar Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. When it comes to comic book films, the other movie of Stallone’s that leaps to mind is 1995’s Judge Dredd, a film that is widely considered a disaster.
It remains to be seen if Samaritan will prove to be the role that finally allows Stallone to take his place alongside Robert Downey Jr., Hugh Jackman, Chris Hemsworth and other actors who’ve thrived in the world of superheroes. For now, Stallone remains somewhat of a throwback star, one who is most at home in traditional action vehicles like Rambo: Last Blood and Escape Plan rather than comic book movies aimed at younger audiences.
Source: Deadline