Sylvester Stallone recently hung up his bandana and retired John Rambo with the latest installment that just released last week, ‘Rambo: Last Blood.’ But he has a new project called ‘Samaritan‘ lined up with MGM which is an original thriller.
Deadline reports Julius Avery, who brought the horror thriller ‘Overlord’ to theaters last year, will direct ‘Samaritan.’ He also attached to write and direct 20th Century Fox’s ‘Flash Gordon’ reboot. But with the Disney acquisition complete, the status of that film is unknown.
The movie, which will star Stallone, will center around a “young boy who is out to discover if a mythic superhero, who vanished 20 years earlier following a tragic event, is still alive.”
Avery had this to say about working with Stallone:
“Sly is a hero of mine, I’m incredibly thrilled to be working with such an iconic actor on this very special project with Balboa Productions and MGM.”
Bragi F. Schut will pen the flick. Schut wrote Sony’s ‘Escape Room’ and is also working on the sequel to that film, August 14, 2020.
People like Stallone, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger have had long careers making dependable action films for several decades. There doesn’t seem to be any sign of him slowing down either. There are talks of another ‘Rocky‘ film, and his production company has a biopic in the works about Jack Johnson the first African American heavyweight champion.
Outside of ‘Rocky’ and ‘Rambo,’ Stallone still has more franchises. There is ‘The Expendables,’ which has 3 movies, a fourth film in development, and talks of spinoffs. There is also his ‘Escape Plan’ films, which has 3 entries as well. Between his starring roles, and his producing roles, it seems Stallone, who is 73 years old, is busier than ever.
‘Samaritan’ sounds like an interesting take on the superhero genre. It would make sense for Stallone to play the hero that the boy is looking for, that would be right up his alley. Knowing Stallone’s penchant for franchises, this could be the story to start a franchise that sees an aging superhero come back into the fold.
Filming will begin early next year.
Deadline also reports the film’s release date is November 20, 2020.
‘Samaritan’ will be up against TriStar’s ‘Happiest Season,’ Universal’s Untitled Amblin film, and Warner Bros.’ Untitled Event Film.