Sylvester Stallone says he’s done with Rambo and wishes he’d directed Cobra himself

Last Updated on September 29, 2023

While chatting with audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival this afternoon, Sylvester Stallone said that he’s done with John Rambo.

Our own Chris Bumbray was in attendance when Sylvester Stallone mentioned the state of the Rambo franchise. “Rambo, I could leave him,” Stallone said. “He’s done pretty much, even though they want to do another one, but what am I fighting? Arthritis?” Although Stallone may be done playing Rambo, there have been rumours of a prequel which would take the character back to Vietnam. “I think it’s going to happen,” Stallone said last year. “I wanted to do it like a Ken Burns documentary on Vietnam, where you drop young Rambo in there, and he’s this outgoing guy, football captain, and then you see why he becomes Rambo. But what they want to do is a modern-day story where I pass the torch. That’s getting close.” I could see Stallone returning for a passing of the torch scenario, but starring in another full-blown Rambo action movie? It sounds like the actor is ready to close the book on that.

Stallone also spoke about Cobra, the 1986 action movie in which he starred as police detective Marion “Cobra” Cobretti. The film has become a cult classic over the years, but Stallone feels that it wasn’t one of his best. “Cobra to me, was half-baked, I could have done better, but I wasn’t concentrating enough,” he said. “I felt as though that’s something I should have directed, and I didn’t, and I regret that. That’s one thing about making movies, aside from watching your hairline recede, you go, ‘god, why didn’t I try harder?’” You can check out the JoBlo video from TIFF below:

Sylvester Stallone is attending TIFF as his upcoming documentary Sly will close out the festival. The description of the documentary reads, “For nearly 50 years, Sylvester Stallone has entertained millions with iconic characters and blockbuster franchises, from Rocky to Rambo to The Expendables. This retrospective documentary offers an intimate look at the Oscar-nominated actor-writer-director-producer, paralleling his inspirational underdog-story with the indelible characters he has brought to life.” Sly will have its world premiere tomorrow at Roy Thomson Hall, and as the film is not covered by the SAG-AFTRA TV and Film agreements, it means that Stallone is allowed to show up at the festival to walk the red carpet and promote it.