matt marsden Tagged Articles at Cinematical

We knew he'd be casting locals for the next installment in his Rambo franchise, John Rambo, but apparently Sylvester Stallone wants this film to be as realistic as possible. According to a Reuters story, a retired rebel soldier from the jungles of eastern Myanmar has been cast to play a brutal Burmese officer in the pic, due out next year. 40 year-old Sai Mawng is an ex-guerrilla from the Shan State Army; he "speaks Burmese fluently and looks nasty enough," so says one of his close friends.

300 applicants originally turned out to audition for the part, which asked for a "Burmese male, 32-40, military-looking man, character face, unlikeable." I assume Mawng looks unlikeable enough; let's just hope he doesn't snap during one of his scenes -- re-living some of those nasty past memories -- and annihilate the entire crew. This time around, John Rambo comes out of retirement for one last mission: to locate a group of missionary aid workers who have disappeared into the jungles of Myanmar ... and, in the end, kick a whole lot of ass.

Apart from the casting of a real-life retired rebel soldier, a bunch of Shan refugees and migrants have been cast as Burmese soldiers in the flick, with each being paid a whopping 300 baht ($8.50) per day for their work. Granted, I'm sure that's a nice chunk of change for these guys, but it is a bit, um, cheap. Also starring alongside Stallone will be James Brolin, Bruno Campos, Kim Dickens and Matt Marsden. Production is currently underway.

If you've been counting the months, weeks, hours, minutes and even seconds until you get a fresh helping of John Rambo, your wish is getting much closer to being fulfilled. According to Variety, filming is scheduled to being this month in Thailand on Rambo IV: Pearl of the Cobra -- the latest, and presumably final, chapter in the Rambo saga.

The article is also reporting that in addition to Sylvester Stallone's return as the title character, the film's supporting cast, which already includes James Brolin, Bruno Campos and the terrific Kim Dickens, has expanded by at least one more with the addition of up-and-comer Matt Marsden. Marsden, fresh from roles in DOA: Dead or Alive and the upcoming Resident Evil: Extinction, will play a mercenary in the film who works closely with Stallone's Rambo to accomplish whatever life-or-death mission he happens to be on at the moment.

Speaking of life-or-death missions. In cases you don't know for some reason, the plot of this latest Rambo film, which has undergone many revisions -- as our own Mark Beall reported before -- and title changes, including Rambo IV: Holy War and the more prophetic Rambo IV: End of Peace, involves Rambo working with Christian missionaries to protect them against pirates. Yes, pirates. Perhaps Stallone is looking to cash in on some of the business generated by those other pirate movies? They made a few bucks at the box office so if he is, that's not necessarily a bad idea.