The 68-year-old actor has announced the title of the fifth, potentially final episode in the saga, referencing the name of the first in the franchise, 1982’s First Blood

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Sylvester Stallone has confirmed that the fifth and supposedly final film in his long-running Rambo action saga will be titled Rambo: Last Blood.

Stallone, who is also set to appear in new Rocky spin-off movie Creed, for director Ryan Coogler, announced the title via Twitter. It references the 1982 film First Blood, which first introduced the character of troubled US army vet John James Rambo on the big screen.

“Doing Scarpa based on Gangster Greg Scarpa after LAST BLOOD RAMBO …” tweeted Stallone, 68. The actor and film-maker has written the screenplay and will also direct, as well as starring as Rambo.

The other film mentioned in Stallone’s tweet, Scarpa, is a gangster flick about the real life hitman Gregory Scarpa, known as “The Grim Reaper”. Stallone takes the lead role, with The Lincoln Lawyer’s Brad Furman on board to direct. Scarpa was a career criminal and enforcer for the Colombo family who also worked as an informant for the FBI, and it is the latter time frame that the film will focus on.

The most recent instalment in the Rambo franchise, 2008’s Rambo, took $113m worldwide, but suffered from mixed reviews.