Sylvester Stallone first starred as John Rambo in 1982

Stallone, 59, will bring back the gun-toting Vietnam veteran for the fourth movie in the series.

Ben Nedivi, of co-producers Millennium Films, said it will recapture the rawness of First Blood, which launched the franchise 23 years ago.

Production on the $50m (�28m) movie will begin when Stallone wraps up filming his sixth Rocky film, which he is also writing and directing.

Warrior

The first three films grossed a combined total of $614m (�345m) worldwide.

The script is yet to be written, but Rambo will be seen living a reclusive life until a girl is kidnapped and he returns to his warrior ways.

Millennium Films will co-produce the film with Emmett/Furla Films.

Along with the Rocky films, Rambo helped Stallone become one of the biggest Hollywood action stars of the 1980s.

But he has been out of the spotlight for some time, appearing in a string of poorly-received action films in the years since the last Rocky film came out in 1988.

Recently, he produced a reality TV show featuring would-be boxers vying for a $1m (�562,000) prize.