Sylvester Stallone won't play Rambo on TV show

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Actor-producer Sylvester Stallone told The Hollywood Reporter he won't reprise his iconic role of John Rambo in a small-screen version of the franchise.

Entertainment One announced Wednesday it made a deal with Avi Lerner's Nu Image to develop and co-produce a TV series based on the Rambo franchise.

The companies said in a news release they were in negotiations with Stallone to be involved with the project "on a creative level," as well as to "potentially reprise his iconic role as the original Rambo."

However, Stallone's publicist told The Hollywood Reporter the 67-year-old actor has no plans to play the gun-toting mercenary in a television show.

"While a television series based on the Rambo property is in development with Entertainment One and Nu Image, contrary to reports, Sylvester Stallone will certainly not reprise his role as the iconic John Rambo for the small screen," Stallone's representative at Rogers and Cowan told the entertainment industry trade newspaper Thursday. "He himself will not portray the character in the series."

Stallone played the character in four blockbuster movies, the most recent of which was released in 2008.