No more monster, señor. Back in September, /Film connected the dots between the creature feature aspect of Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo 5 and his rights to the sci-fi thriller novel, Hunter, by James Huggins. As one might expect, the idea of John Rambo tracking and being tracked by a genetically engineered “abomination” in snow country split fans like a coconut.

As a premise, it fell in line with Stallone’s previous statements about a new genre direction for the franchise, and the promo art above was even released to tease this aspect. Well, today the action legend confirmed that he’s scrapped the idea for the sequel and reserved it for a separate film outside the franchise. So, where will Rambo go next, and more importantly, who as opposed to what will he bludgeon? In his words: “There will be blood.”

Stallone is rather savvy when it comes to listening to fans online and controlling the rumors and buzz on his productions. He sent an email to StalloneZone to set the record straight…

This is from Sly to your followers:

To all the loyal SZoners out there,

I’m letting you know that Rambo has changed course and the story about hunting the man/beast will be done using another character in the lead. RAMBO himself will be heading over the border to a violent city where many young women have vanished.

There will be blood.

Best,
Sly Stallone

Here’s looking at you, Mexico’s SZoners. Late next summer sees the release of Sly’s The Expendables, a men-on-a-mission movie following mercenaries who attempt to tackle a dictator in South America. Similar to how 2008’s Rambo was set in Burma/Myanmar, Stallone keeps a heat censor on newsworthy, troubled sections of the world for his projects and now he’s once again deploying Rambo into timely conflict.

Take note that Stallone is not ditching the idea of a creature-feature entirely. He’s held the rights to Higgins’s novel for a long time and was basically using Rambo as a vessel to obtain financing and realize it on the big screen. The passion for the material is obvious. Fans might speculate if Stallone meant that another one of his characters will be featured instead, or if he’ll create a new one. He’s been kicking the idea of a Cliffhanger 2 around for a few years now; might we see Gabe Walker—a character without canon—fighting it out on a tundra dosed with the supernatural? Personally, I thought the idea would have made for a fun Rambo film, but two films is better than one, unless you’re dying to see Stallone tackle Poe.