James Franco has taken a step into mainstream Hollywood, joining a major studio production for the first time in close to 10 years. The move coincides with the actor’s visible attendance at the Cannes Film Festival, where he hinted at a completed secret project.

James Franco added to cast of Noah Centineo’s John Rambo movie

James Franco appears to have been added to the cast of John Rambo, a prequel to the long-running action franchise. Variety has reported that Franco has a small part in the movie, which wrapped production recently in Thailand.

Noah Centineo stars as a young John Rambo, long before the character became the scarred veteran audiences met in 1982’s First Blood. David Harbour plays Major Trautman, Rambo’s commanding officer, the role originated by the late Richard Crenna. Jalmari Helander, the Finnish director behind the gritty war film Sisu, is directing from a script by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani. The cast also includes Yao, Jason Tobin, Quincy Isaiah, Jefferson White, and Tayme Thapthimthong.

Franco’s involvement became public just as he was making the rounds at Cannes. He spoke with Deadline and mentioned he had wrapped a role in an unnamed studio film. “It won’t be ready for this summer, but my guess is it will be end of this year or spring-summer 2027,” Franco said. The actor has kept a low profile since facing allegations of sexual misconduct tied to his now-closed acting school. Franco denied the accusations but said the women involved raised valid concerns. At Cannes, he said he had been concentrating on maintaining a “positive life.”

Lionsgate is distributing the movie, with Millennium Media, Templeton Media, and AGBO producing. Kevin King Templeton, Les Weldon, and Jonathan Yunger, among others, serve as producers. Executive producers include Anthony and Joe Russo, Trevor Short, Dallas Sonnier, Amanda Presmyk, and Sylvester Stallone, who made Rambo an icon across five films.

The makers have not announced John Rambo’s release date.

Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on ComingSoon.