Six days ago Deadline‘s Nellie Andreeva reported two things about Sylvester Stallone and Rambo: New Blood, the Fox TV series. One, that he would executive produce the series and two, that she was hearing “conflicting information whether Stallone has a deal in place to act in the project, about Rambo and his son, though he certainly has the option to do so…some sources indicate that the actor would reprise his role as the famous renegade soldier, which he has played in all four Rambo movies to date, while others say that he won’t appear in the series.”
Today Andreeva reported that Stallone is out of it entirely. “Contrary to reports, Sylvester Stallone has opted not to participate in the planned Rambo television series in any way at all,” a spokesperson for Stallone said.
Translation: Stallone, a likely Best Supporting Actor nominee for his artistic comeback role in Creed, doesn’t want to self-Norbit himself during Oscar season by bringing up Rambo associations, and so, whatever the actual particulars of the Rambo: New Blood deal, he’s publicly distancing himself. No lunkhead action flicks, no Expendables 4…none of that stuff while he’s in the Oscar race. Smart move.
Question: In industry circles “Norbit” has become a verb — to self-Norbit is to temporarily ruin one’s artistic credibility by way of tacky, low-rent associations in past, current or future films or TV series. In an outside-Hollywood sense one could self-Norbit by allowing unsavory associations of any kind to surface, although I have doubts as to whether the term will ever have any currency beyond geographical Los Angeles.
