Noah Centineo has been announced as the new Rambo in the upcoming 2026 film directed by Kitao Sakurai, taking over a role originally made iconic by Sylvester Stallone.
The news comes over 30 years after Rambo: First Blood first premiered, with Stallone co-writing the film and starring as John Rambo. Centineo, 29, who gained prominence with his role as Jesus Adams Foster in The Fosters and later as Peter Kavinsky in the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before films, will portray Rambo during the Vietnam War.
New Rambo star revealed and it?s not who actor Sylvester Stallone wanted for the role
Centineo has also appeared in Sierra Burgess Is a Loser and as Camila Cabello’s love interest in her hit single Havana featuring Young Thug. His personal life has been in the spotlight, including previous relationships with Stassie Karanikolaou and Sports Illustrated model Alexis Ren.
Filming is expected to begin in early 2026 in Thailand. While Stallone has been made aware of the project, he is not directly involved. He had previously expressed a different vision for Rambo’s successor, telling The Tonight Show: “I met [Ryan Gosling] at a dinner and obviously we’re opposites. He’s good-looking, I’m not. That’s how it works. But he goes, ‘I was fascinated by Rambo, and I used to go to school dressed as Rambo and people would chase me away and I still didn’t stop’. He just kept saying that he had a lot of affiliation with Rambo, and I thought, this is interesting. If I ever pass the baton, I’ll pass it on to him because he loves the character.”
Centineo’s casting signals a new direction for the franchise, introducing a younger actor to carry the legacy of the iconic soldier while maintaining the character’s connection to its action-packed origins.