So yesterday morning, as is my custom, I was once again immersed in the great comforting warm bath that is the New York Times Arts Section when the following interesting and alarming item caught my eye.

"...a fifth installment in Sylvester Stallone's long-running Rambo series has been given the green light by the studios Nu Image and Millenium Films. The new film will be directed by Mr. Stallone, who will star again as the one-man killing machine John Rambo, who will fight human trafficking and drug lords while trying to rescue a kidnapped girl. The previous Rambo movie, released last year, earned $42 million in domestic ticket sales and $113 million overseas..."

As I said, interesting and alarming, especially that bit about the film's foreign grosses, but wearing my intrepid reporter's cap, I must now report that the plot summary -- heck, just about everything -- in the Times piece is incorrect.

In fact, the whole story is a press agent's deliberate diversion to deflect attention from the truth about the film.

Which is, according to my confidential sources in the Stallone camp, quite a different kettle of hardcore action indeed.

Without giving too much away, let me simply say that it will be titled First Blood V: Rambo versus Rimbaud.

And that the story, as the title suggests, begins when Stallone's titular character, now living an alternative lifestyle...

...meets the great Symbolist poet, still alive in the Indonesian jungle after all these years...

...and sparks begin to fly!!!

Stallone, however, will only act in the picture. The creative reins have been handed to an absolutely A-List team -- Gus Van Sant (screenplay) and Ang Lee (director). And for Rimbaud -- you guessed it, Leonardo DiCaprio, in the role he was born to play!

Could be a hot one -- I'll keep you posted as more details become available. In the meantime, of course, you can order last year's more conventional installment of the saga on DVD over here.